SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT OPENING OF THE VOLUNTARY ASSETS AND INCOME DECLARATION SCHEME AT THE BANQUET HALL, STATE HOUSE ON THURSDAY JUNE 29, 2017 “When people pay taxes, they pay attention to what government is doing. There’s a level of social and political consciousness which people have when they pay taxes. So when people say that this is tax payers’ money that you are spending in that way, it is evident that it’s because this money is coming from their pockets that they are able to question political authority, question people who say there’re representing them and question government programmes as well”. “According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the total number of tax payers in Nigeria is just 14 million. Of this number, 96% have their taxes deducted at source from their salaries under the P.A.Y.E system while just 4% comply under Direct Assessment. So the vast majority

Nigeria’s Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole, speaks on health matters in the country. Excerpts: Can you share your thoughts on what your sector has done in two years and the challenges you have? (Cuts in) I have been part of the healthcare system for a long time and I have seen a lot of it over the years. I have been a critic of the health system before now and now I am inside the system. I used to say then that we should have this or that but I have come to see the whole gamut of the system and we are working very hard to make it work better for all. That is what I can say about that. So given that hindsight what are you doing differently? What I will do differently is what I call strategic engagement. I will be focused, I will pick a few things and hit them right. I will not deceive myself and the people of Nigeria that I can solve all the problems in the health sector in just one day. It is not just possible and we must be ready to tell Nigerians nothing but the plain tr

Chief Bisi Akande, former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, has decried monetization of politics in Nigeria. Hide quoted text “Nigerian politicians are sitting on a time bomb with the practice and growth of monetisation of politics. “If this is not curtailed urgently, it will soon kill Nigerian politicians and our political system,” he said on Friday at a meeting of Osun APC Elders Forum in his country home, Ila. Akande, a former governor of the state, also urged the APC leadership to continue to uphold the politics of service to the people. “No matter the pressure being promoted by the general outlook of corruption that forms the foundation of the problems in the country, we must not deviate from service to the people. In a communiqué at the end of the meeting, the APC elders also frowned at what they described as politics of stomach infrastructure being imported to the South West states. The communiqué signed by Chairman of the forum, Mr. Sola Akinwun

A Nigerian based in the United States of America , Mr . Toyin Dawodu , has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Senate President , Dr. Bukola Saraki , to appoint a medical panel to determine the health status of ailing President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari had left the country for the United Kingdom since May 7, 2017 for a medical vacation . But the details of the President ’ s ailment and condition have been kept away from Nigerians . In his suit marked FHC/ABJ /CS /508/2017 and filed on June 28 , Dawodu urged the court to declare Saraki as empowered by the Nigerian Constitution to set up a medical panel to determine Buhari’s health status “ without first being a resolution of the Executive Council of the Federation .” Section 144( 1) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that such a medical panel should be appointed by the Senate President following a resolution passed by two- thirds majority of the members of the Executive Council of the Federation . But the plainti

L atest trending topic, that 2 of the 3 major tribes are actively clamouring for their own separate nations is in itself a failure for the Buhari administration. What makes it even more pathetic is how the government has made available an enabling environment for such agitations to fester and escalate to a point where we may just be fighting a civil war this October instead of celebrating our 57th independence. Like i always say,President Buhari’s promise of placing those who voted en masse for him on a higher pedestal than those who didn’t breathed legitimacy into the Biafra and Ijaw nation struggles and as such,he is contributorily culpable of foisting this sad predicament upon us.The yorubas are the latest to join the train. To take the loudest and perhaps more righteous of the struggles,after more than 31 non-ministerial appointments by this administration,the South-East was still waiting for its first.Add the lopsided appointments,Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration contrary to court or

The Acting President , Prof . Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government will remain resolute in its fight against corruption in spite of the daunting challenges . Osinbajo said this in Lagos at the 5 th Annual Christopher Kolade Lecture on Business Integrity entitled : ‘Prevention is better than Cure even on the Issue of Corruption ’. The lecture was organised by the Integrity Organisation Limited , an anti -corruption , research and advocacy organisation concerned with issues of public accountability and transparency. “ We must ensure that corruption is prosecuted . In the last two years , we have had many cases of persons accused of corruption taken to the courts . “ We have a hardworking and courageous team as most of our law enforcement agencies and the EFCC have worked commendably despite daunting challenges . “ Of course they are not perfect and there are several complaints, but what is obvious is that they have focused on the work of investigation and prosecution and in fac