The bill seeking to remove animal feeds from the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the controversy over the deposed Emir of Kano are some of the trending stories in the Nigerian press on Wednesday.
This Day said President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded a bill to the Senate for the total exemption of animal feeds from the new 7.5% Value Added Tax which took effect from February 1, 2020.
It also focused on crude oil price which moved by around eight percent yesterday, a day after the biggest rout in nearly 30 years as investors eyed the possibility of economic stimulus and Russia signaled that talks with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) remained possible.
The Daily Trust reported that the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has vowed to challenge his banishment in court.
Speaking through his lawyer, Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, the former emir said he had not been served with any arrest warrant when he was picked up at the Emir’s Palace in Kano.
Channels Television said the Kaduna State Government has appointed the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, into the board of the state Investment Promotion Agency about 24 hours after his removal.
The Punch quoting the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the amount spent on petrol imported into the country dropped by 42 percent to N1.71tn in 2019.
The Leadership said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. (EFCC) has said it will issue criminal summons against former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to compel her to stand trial.
The Sun said the Senate has constituted a joint-committee to engage the Executive arm of government on measures to stave off the negative effect of crude oil price crash on the Nigerian economy.
The panel is also expected to work with the Executive in the event that it wants to review the 2020 budget downward, in view of the unstable global oil market.
The Guardian said the country’s ability to attract sustainable foreign direct investments has remained weak as the bulk of imported capital continues to be dominated by portfolio investments, otherwise known as ‘hot money’.
MM/GIK/APA