Close Menu
Français   English
Ecomondo2024
Français   English
Ecomondo2024

Nigerian press focuses on rebuilding of lost assets of Lagos state, others

News APAAPA



The process of rebuilding the lost assets of the Lagos state after the #EndSARS protests and the European Union spending over €260m to provide Access Water to 10m Nigerians are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.


The process of rebuilding the lost assets of the Lagos state after the #EndSARS protests and the European Union spending over €260m to provide Access Water to 10m Nigerians are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.

ThisDay reports that the period of brooding over the devastation suffered by Lagos State in the violence that trailed the hijack of the #EndSARS protests is now past. The recovery effort has begun in earnest, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu putting the hammer down on the process of rebuilding the lost assets of the state.

An eight-man team, led by the chairman of Citibank Nigeria, Mr. Yemi Cardoso, constituted a fortnight ago by the governor to coordinate the recovery effort, was formally inaugurated at an event tagged “Consultative Forum on Rebuilding Lagos” held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

The forum was attended by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Senator Representing Lagos West, Solomon Adeola, Chief Judge of Lagos, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba and chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, represented by the group’s Executive Director, Dr. Mansur Ahmed.

Also, captains of industry, members of organised private sector and members of diplomatic corps graced the event aimed at restoring the infrastructure destroyed in the violence.

Sanwo-Olu described the proportion of the devastation suffered by the State as unprecedented, saying the coordinated violence set Lagos economy – fifth largest in Africa – back by hundreds of billions of Naira.

The destruction, the governor said, tore down the fortress of commerce Lagos built over centuries ago, adding that those who carried out the violence made an attempt to ruin values that stood the State out as centre of creativity and innovation in the country.

The newspaper says that the European Union (EU) has disclosed that it spent over €260 million to provide access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to over 10,000,000 Nigerians in 14 states.

The EU also disclosed that at least 25 Civil Society Organisations have been empowered to drive the process of improved water and sanitation governance in Plateau state.

The EU Team Leader for Water and Sanitation Project, Mohammed Tigani, who disclosed this in Jos during the close-out of the EU-fund Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organisation (EU-TAC) project in Plateau State, added that the project started since March 2013 and was initially meant take three years, but was extended 2020.

Tigani, said the project provides capacity building and training of personnel in the Ministry and Water Board, adding that in Plateau, we worked in two Local Government Areas; Riyom and Shendam where a big dam has been built.
The Punch reports that the draft Finance Bill 2020 contains a proposal for the reduction of the minimum tax rate to be paid by companies next year in light of the current economic climate, according to the Fiscal Policy Reforms Committee.

The Fiscal Policy Reforms Committee, which was established by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, is chaired by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu.

“In light of the current economic climate, it is proposed that the rate of minimum tax is reduced from 0.5 per cent to 0.25 per cent of gross turnover, for the period ending between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021,” a document from the committee said.

It noted that the Finance Act 2019 changed the basis for computing minimum tax to 0.5 per cent of the gross turnover of the company. Minimum tax is payable by companies having no taxable profits for the year or where the tax on profits is below the minimum tax.

However, companies in the first four calendar years of business, companies engaged in the agriculture business, or small companies are exempt from minimum tax, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The newspaper says that the hike in food prices and other individual consumption across the country further increased the rate of inflation in Nigeria to 14.23 per cent in October.

Figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed that the country’s inflation increased again in October, moving up by 0.52 per cent when compared to what was recorded in the preceding month.

This came as analysts stated that the continued closure of Nigeria’s borders and the persistent hike in petrol price, among others, further worsened the rate of inflation in Nigeria.

The NBS said, “The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation increased by 14.23 percent (year-on-year) in October 2020. “This is 0.52 percent points higher than the rate recorded in September 2020 (13.71 percent).”

It was observed that increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose divisions that yielded the headline index. On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.54 percent in October,

representing 0.06 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in September (1.48 per cent). The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending October over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 12.66 per cent.

The Sun reports that the Senate, yesterday, sought the comprehensive audit of accounts of top revenue generating agencies like Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Authority NIMASA), among others.

Senate’s Public Accounts Committee gave the charge while commenting on the 2021 budget for the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation. It challenged acting Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Adolphus Aghughu, to focus more on financial transactions of big revenue generating agencies instead of beaming searchlight only on smaller organisations.

The Chairman of the Committee, Mathew Urhoghide, who stated this frowned at the failure to audit the accounts of bigger agencies.

“You claim that you are auditing account of the federation and you won’t touch accounts of NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, among others. You will remove all the big spenders from your watch list, but will focus on smaller agencies.

 

 

GIK/APA

Share.

Related Posts