ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: SATURDAY

30 Sep ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: SATURDAY

🌎President Bola Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after a week of silence on his whereabouts at the end of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. There were concerns about the president’s itinerary after members of the delegation which accompanied him to the US returned to the country.

🌎 Oil prices settled 1% lower on Friday due to macroeconomic concerns and profit-taking, but rose about 30% in the quarter as OPEC+ production cuts squeezed global crude supply. Front-month Brent November futures settled down 7 cents to $95.31 per barrel at the contract’s expiry, up about 2.2% in the week and 27% in the third quarter. The more liquid Brent December contract was settled down 90 cents to $92.20 per barrel.

🌎Nigerian government targets rich persons to grow tax revenues; it also seeks a cut to corporate income tax, which currently stands at 40 percent, and will propose tax amnesty to encourage evaders to settle backlogs. The idea is that the fiscal reforms will ease the path for Africa’s biggest economy to tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 percent by 2026, from its present percent, Bloomberg reported Thursday, quoting Taiwo Oyedele, who heads the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.

🌎The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), has shared a total sum of N1.101 trillion August 2023 revenue, to the three tiers of government, being monthly allocation from the Joint Federation Account. A communiqué issued by FAAC at its September 2023 meeting, showed that a total revenue of N1,483,902 trillion was available in the month of August 2023.

🌎The federal government and a firm, ALAT, on Friday launched an initiative to support information technology revolution that would, in turn, extend the reach of economic and social interactions as well as enhance productivity growth in Nigeria.The new initiative will provide over three million Nigerians with essential digital skills required to succeed in the global economy. Speaking during the launch of the programme at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Vice President Kashim Shettima described the Skillnovation as a “transformative initiative” that “ushers in a new era of digital empowerment for” Nigerians.

🌎Dangote Group, a Nigerian multinational industrial conglomerate, announced Thursday that its subsidiaries have paid N474 billion in tax to the federal government in three years.

🌎The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) granted various tax incentives that amounted to N1.81 trillion in the 2022 financial year, an official report has shown.

🌎Security Stories: Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked Kabula and Zagzaga communities in Munya Local Government Area of Niger State. The bandits, who attacked the communities on Thursday evening, abducted about 31 Villagers.

*Criminals suspected to be arsonists have burned the country home of the lawmaker representing Orlu/Oru East/Orsu Federal Constituency of Imo State in the House of Representatives, Canice Nwachukwu (popularly known as Omeogo).

*The Police in Benue State have arrested four suspected kidnappers and rescued six victims from their hideouts in Agbanor village in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.

*Some members of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke Igan in Akure, Ondo state capital, have been abducted. The victims were travelling for a burial programme when the attackers struck on the notorious Ifon road in the Ose Local Council Area of the state, on Friday evening.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin says residents of Russia-held Ukrainian regions have expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local polls. He made the remarks in a video address released on the first anniversary of Russia’s controversial announcement it was annexing four parts of Ukraine.

*Ukraine’s air force has shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on central and southern regions.

*A major attack on the western Ukrainian region of Vinnytsia has forced the evacuation of residents.

*Ukraine’s Security Service says it was behind a drone attack on an electrical substation in Russia’s Kursk region on Friday. The security service said the substation provided electricity to important Russian military facilities, according to sources.

*Ukraine’s occupied regions will be included for first time in a new round of Russian conscriptions this fall, Russia’s defense ministry announced Friday.

Moscow is set to boost its military spending, with the Kremlin citing what it described as an ongoing “hybrid war” the government claims is being waged against Russia.

*The Russian finance ministry’s draft budget for 2024 indicates a 68% surge in defense expenditures compared to 2023, with a new allocation of up to 10.77 trillion rubles ($111.04 billion) for “national defense.”