Victor EzejaHere are the top 10 stories from Nigerian daily newspapers for today, 31st May 2023 on Politics, business, entertainment and economy.
1. Petrol Subsidy Removal Not With Immediate Effect – Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that the removal of subsidy on petrol he announced on Monday will not take immediate effect.
In a statement by his media team, Tinubu said he was merely communicating the status quo, which is that the previous administration only allocated funds in the budget for subsidy for only the first half of the year.
He urged members of the public not to resort to panic-buying which had started across the country hours after the announcement was made by the president during his inauguration. Read more
2. NNPC Increases Petrol Price to Over N500, Marketers Sell For N650, Black Market N750
In the ensuing panic-buying that greeted the announcement of the removal of subsidy on fuel by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, petroleum marketers are reportedly hoarding the product by shutting their outlets, while some who open, have hiked the price to as high as N650 per litre.
Black market operators on their part sell at N750 and above.
This is even as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has adjusted the pump price of petrol by nearly 200% to between N488 and N500 nationwide.
This is aside the long queues that have resurfaced in various filling stations across the country. Read more
3. Buhari’s Gov’t Failed To Pay Subsidy Fees, Owes NNPC N2.8 trn
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has disclosed that the Federal Government is owing it N2.8 trillion for failed fuel subsidy payments.
Kyari, who revealed this during his visit to the State House where he together with the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, met with President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, said the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari couldn’t afford to fund the subsidy. Read more
4. Tinubu Orders DSS To Vacate EFCC Office
President Tinubu has ordered the Department of State Services to vacate the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
DSS had reportedly laid siege to the office of the anti-graft agency on Tuesday morning on what was said to be a squabble over the right of possession of the property.
5. Osun Hotelier, Adedoyin, 2 Others to Die by Hanging for Killing OAU Post-graduate Student
An Osun State High Court, on Tuesday, sentenced the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, Dr Abdulrahman Adedoyin to death by hanging for the murder of Obafemi Awolowo University’s postgraduate student, Mr Timothy Adegoke.
The hotelier was sentenced to death alongside two others who were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Adegoke, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) student, travelled from Abuja to Ife to write his examination and was lodged in the hotel only to be declared missing by the police on November 7, 2021.
6. Tribunal Admits US Drug Judgment Against Tinubu Tendered By Obi’s First Witness
The Presidential Election Petition Court on Tuesday admitted in evidence, a document pertaining to the US drug forfeiture judgment against President Bola Tinubu tendered by Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Read more
7. Court Adjourns Hearing On Obi, Tinubu Case To June 1
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has adjourned further proceedings in the petition by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, against the outcome of the February 25 election, to Thursday, June 1.
The adjournment was at the instance of Obi and his party.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, May 31, their legal team applied for the adjournment over the issue of ill health involving two secretariat staff of the petitioners. According to the lawyers, the legal experts were germane to the evidence that they were to present to the court.
8. Man Bags Life Imprisonment for Defiling 8-year-old Daughter
A Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on Tuesday, sentenced, a 42-year-old man, Suleimon Usman, to life imprisonment for defiling his eight-year-old daughter.
Justice Rahman Oshodi sentenced him to life imprisonment after he was found guilty as charged by the Lagos State government.
Usman was arraigned on two counts charge bordering on defilement of his two daughters of eight years and five years at his No.2 Bale Street, Onisewo in the Apapa area of Lagos State.
His offence contravened the provisions of section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
9. Nigeria’s Tax-to-GDP Ratio Rises To 10.86% In 2021
Nigeria’s Tax-to-GDP ratio which, in the last 12 years, hovered between 5 per cent to 6 per cent, rose to 10.86 per cent by the end of 2021.
This was revealed in a letter signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, on the 25th of May 2023, addressed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) following a joint review by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the FIRS, using data from 2010 to 2021.
The revision took into account revenue items hitherto not previously included in the computations; particularly, relevant revenue collected by other agencies of government.
10. We’re Not Recruiting – PenCom
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has debunked reports that it is recruiting.
In a statement on Tuesday, PenCom said its attention has been drawn to a news website claiming that the agency has commenced its recruitment exercise for the year.
The commission said the information is entirely false and intended to mislead the public.
PenCom said it would communicate to the public, through the proper channels, when it begins any such exercise.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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