Author: Aminu Imam

Akwa-Ibom: Community accuses BUA of land-grabbing, vows to halt refinery  

Aminu Imam
Akwa Ibom vs BUA

The dispute over the ownership of the land between two communities in Akwa-Ibom State is threatening the BUA refinery and petrochemical complex with the Ekid people insisting that the Stubbs Creeks Forest, where the project is located is their territory and not of their Ibeno neighbours. Promoted by AbdulSamad Rabiu, a philanthropist and industrialist, the BUA refinery and petrochemical project is located off the Atlantic Coast in the Stubbs Creek Forest, an area being disputed by the people of Ibeno, Esit Eket and Eket local government areas of Akwa-Ibom State.…

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Ohaneze: “We’re not Igbo”, Says Rivers group; strips new President of all titles

Aminu Imam
Rivers group on Ohaneze

…As others back him The emergence of Senator John Azuta Mbata as the President General of Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Worldwide has caused confusion in Ikwerre, the biggest ethnic nationality in Rivers state, with Ogbakor Ikwerre community stripping the former Senator of all chieftaincy titles earlier bestowed on him. The Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation said it would continue to maintain its unique identity and history separate from others and as such would not want to be identified with Igbo ethnic nationality and culture. In a statement in Port Harcourt, the President-General of…

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NIS alerts public to emergence of ‘ACHAD’ sect in Kaduna

Aminu Imam
NIS on new sect

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has raised concerns over the emergence of a new sect known as “ACHAD Life Mission International”, which is reportedly active in the North-West zone of Nigeria. The alert was communicated in a circular dated January 14, 2025, issued by the Principal Staff Officer to the Comptroller-General of NIS, A.A. Aridegbe. The document was sent to State commands, directorates, zones, and training institutions across the country. According to the NIS, ACHAD is believed to have ties to huma-trafficking and child separation, and has its headquarters in…

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Tax Reform Bills: League of Northern Democrats commends Govs.’ Forum, but calls for clarity over ‘derivation’

Aminu Imam
LND expresses support

The League of Northern Democrats, (LND), has expressed its support for the Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s (NGF) recent endorsement of a revised Value-Added Tax (VAT) sharing formula, but raised a significant concern over the definition of the word: “derivation”. In a statement released following the NGF’s meeting with the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, on January 16, 2025, LND acknowledged the NGF’s proposal to allocate VAT revenue as follows: 50% based on equality, 30% on derivation, and 20% on population. This formula, the…

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60 confirmed dead in Niger tanker explosion

Aminu Imam
Niger tanker explosion

No fewer than 60 people have been recovered from the scene of the tanker explosion at Dikko junction along Abuja /Kaduna  expressway, Gurara local government area of Niger State, while injuring several others. The Niger State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Kumar Tsukwam, who revealed the number in an update yesterday afternoon, informed newsmen that the tanker, with the number plate: KBG-103-XAX, belonged to a company,  HMY Oil and Gas, and was driven by one Mohammed Modu. According to him, the tanker had loaded 60,000 litres of…

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BRICS finally admits Nigeria as partner country 

Aminu Imam
BRICS finally admits Nigeria

Brazil has officially declared Nigeria as a new partner country in the BRICS alliance, according to a statement released on Friday by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. With this development, Nigeria becomes the ninth partner country in BRICS, joining Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. The ministry’s statement read: “The Brazilian government welcomes the Nigerian government’s decision. With the world’s sixth-largest population – and Africa’s largest – as well as being one of the continent’s major economies, Nigeria shares convergent interests with other members of BRICS. “It plays…

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“Kudan LGA, Kaduna produces 85% of Nigeria’s grapes” – President, Grapes Farmers Assoc.

Aminu Imam
Grapes farmers association

National President of the Grape Farmers Association of Nigeria, Abdullah Ɗalhatu, has revealed that Kaduna State is the leading producer of grapes in Nigeria. Ɗalhatu, who made this known when he led the Kudan local government council chairman, Dauda Iliya Abba, to a tour of a 5-hectare vineyard in the area, said the Kudan local government area of the State accounts for 85% of the country’s grape production. He explained that the vineyards have produced approximately 22 metric tonnes of grapes in January alone. According to him, “One section of…

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“Speak truth to power without antagonism” – VP Shettima to journalists

Aminu Imam
VP Shettima to journalists

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has urged Nigerian journalists to focus on speaking truth to power objectively without antagonising the government.  He made this appeal at the launch of ‘Persona Non Grata’, a book by a journalist, Isma’il Omipidan, which was held at the Abuja Continental Hotel. Drawing the distinction between antagonism and speaking truth to power, Shettima also urged members of the fourth estate of the realm to, as a matter of necessity, always strive to strike a balance between their allegiance to self and to truth. He emphasised the need…

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“We have no objection to Govs.’ proposed VAT-sharing formula” – Oyedele 

Aminu Imam
Screenshot 20250118 205225

Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax policy and Fiscal reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, says his committee has no objection to the newly-proposed value-added tax (VAT) sharing formula by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, (NGF). Oyedele stated this yesterday, during an event organised by ‘The Covenant Nation’, to facilitate national development. Recall that on January 16, the NGF backed the proposed tax reform Bills currently at the 10th National Assembly. The NGF also proposed a new “equitable” sharing formula for VAT. The development was an outcome of a meeting between the NGF…

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Alleged $6bn Mambilla power contract fraud: Ex-President Buhari forced to take witness stand in Paris court 

Aminu Imam
Buhari in Paris

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been dragged before a court in Paris, France, where he took the witness stand in an arbitration proceeding over a federal power contract dispute. It wad learnt that Buhari was hauled before the court yesterday for breaching the terms of a power generation and distribution contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria, (TCN) by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006.  The $6 billion project has dragged on for over 20 years, and its main anchor, Leno Adesanya, has been a target…

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