NEXT LEVEL CRIMINAL AGENDA !! New National Housing Act to ‘punish’ the poor with 250% tax rise

Aanuoluwapo is a 23-year-old graduate with a higher national diploma with an income of N30,000.

The goal is to save up enough to get a postgraduate diploma so as to bargain for a better salary at her company or a different entity.

Upon resumption at her workplace, her boss said she has to pay tax and pension. Although that would reduce her salary, she is grateful that she does not have to pay more than one percent as tax and the 7.5% she has to contribute for pension is her investment for the future.

Suddenly, she receives news that there will be yet another deduction from her salary; the National Housing Fund deduction and this is not negotiable.

For a lot of Nigerians like Aanuoluwapo, who is around the minimum wage band, the news of a compulsory deduction apart from tax and pension can be demoralising.

What is the NHF about?

The new national housing bill was recently passed by the national assembly. The bill, which is now awaiting presidential assent, amends a number of provisions contained in the 1992 NHF act.

These are some of the amendments.

	Old NHF Act	New NHF Act
1	The minimum income threshold for contributors is N3,000 and above per annum	The minimum income threshold for contributors is N18,000 or the national minimum wage as applicable
2	No cement levy	Imposes a 2.5% levy on every locally produced and imported cement
3	Contributors are to receive a 4% interest on their contributions	Contributors will receive a 2% interest on contributions or as determined by the bank
4	Every commercial or merchant bank shall invest in the Fund 10 per cent of its loans and advances at an interest rate of I per cent above the interest rate payable on current accounts by banks.	Every commercial bank or merchant bank shall invest 10% of its profit before tax into the fund at an interest rate of 1% above the interest rate payable on current accounts by banks
5	Every registered insurance company shall invest a minimum of 20 per cent of its non- life funds and 40 per cent of its life funds in real property development of which not less than 50 per cent shall be paid into the Fund	Every registered insurance company shall invest a minimum of 10% of its profit before tax into the fund at an interest rate not exceeding 1% above the interest rate payable on current accounts by banks.
6	Employers who do not remit the deductions are liable to a fine of N50,000 Self-employed people who do not remit are liable to a fine of N5,000	Cement companies who do not pay the levy are liable to a fine of N100 million Self-employed who do not deduct are liable to N100,000 fine Employers who do not remit are liable to N5 million fineBanks and insurance companies who do not remit risk cancellation of their operating licences

Implications

• For people earning income around the minimum wage band, the NHF contribution is 250% higher than their PAYE.
• This might result in increased cement prices thereby increasing the cost of construction
• The remittance channels are unclear thus worsening Nigeria’s position on the ease of paying tax index
• Cost of borrowing will increase as banks will have to invest some of their profit in the fund
• The eventual refund at a 2% interest rate does not make provisions for the time value of money
• The requirement for pension fund administrators to invest in the fund will result in reduced returns for pensioners.

Taiwo Oyedele, a tax partner at PwC Nigeria, described the bill as regressive.

“This bill is punishing the poorest people the most and is against the natural 

principle of tax justice,” he told TheCable.

- THECABLE

Court remands father for allegedly defiling 16-year-old daughter

A Yaba Chief magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered that a 50-year-old man, Gafar Anifowose,  accused of allegedly defiling his 16-year-old daughter, be remanded in prison.

The police charged Anifowose, who resides in Ikorodu area of Lagos, with rape.

Chief Magistrate Mrs K.B. Ayeye, gave the order after the defendant pleaded not guilty to raping his daughter.

Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, ASP Thomas Nurudeen, told the court that the defendant, on March 3, at about 9 a.m. at No. 5, Faniran str, Ikorodu, Lagos, raped his 16-year-old daughter.

He said that Anifowose raped his daughter twice and warned her not to tell anyone about what he did.

The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of  Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Magistrate Awe adjourned the case until June 3, for trial.

- PM NEWS

NEXT LEVEL GENERATORS PLS !! Pollution: NESREA decry increasing use of power generators

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) says the increasing use of power generators across the country is a time bomb on the environment.

Mr Daniel Wuave, the Coordinator of NESREA in Gombe State made this known in Gombe on Wednesday.

Wuave noted that the increase in use of generators, which residents blamed on inability of power distribution companies to provide regular electricity, was one of the major sources of air pollution in Gombe.

According to him, the use of generators does not only pollute the atmosphere but also is a source of noise pollution in most parts of the country.

He said efforts were ongoing to ensure that such situation was not allowed to continue in view of its hazard on human and the environment adding that the agency was carrying out sensitisation in that regard.

“The increasing use of generators in Gombe is becoming a serious environmental threat. This is a time bomb on the environment and the quality of air available to both human and the environment.

“Due to poor power supply, many have resorted to generator use as back up. This is a trend that may have dire consequences on the environment sooner than we expect, if nothing is done to reverse such trend.

“Since we don’t live in isolation, the increasing use of generators is contributing to global warming no matter how insignificantly it is viewed. We must fashion out ways to discourage the use of generators.

“In most neighbourhoods, the sound of generators at night is something else. This is also having adverse effects on eardrums of people and also disturbs the brain after a long day job.

“This is becoming unbearable and the agency is working to addressing such environmental issues which threaten the quality of available air and causes serious noise pollution as well,” he said.

Wuave appealed to residents and other stakeholders to invest in alternative power sources, adding that solar energy was a good alternative that is environment friendly.

He also appealed to residents of Gombe to plant more trees in residential areas to absorb the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere through generator-use.

The Federal Government on Dec. 26, 2018 began the implementation of the National Generator Emission Control Programme to address pollution from generator sources.

According to the Centre for Management Development, about 60 million Nigerians invested about N1.6 trillion to purchase and maintain standby generators annually.

A survey in Gombe indicated that most residents of Federal Low-Cost, Government Reserved Area (GRA), Tumfure and Yelengurunza Quarters rely on generators as power back up.

- PM NEWS

VIDEO : Wendy Williams Reveals She Struggled With Cocaine

American host of the ”Wendy Williams Show” after her come back from a health break she took, disclosed that she was addicted to cocaine and never took time out to get help even though she managed to stop.

Wendy Williams is one lady who is true and real to herself, she broke down in tears while revealing the sad truth of her addiction that nobody knows about except her partner.

The media personality also says she’s currently living in a sober house with some set of smelly boys and others who need help from addiction.

There’s now good news for those who are trying to get out of addiction. For more information visit thehunter-foundation.org or call 1-888-5Hunter (548-6837).

 PM NEWS

Daddy Freeze : Your spouse must have access to your bank details, others if you are truly married

Founder, Free Nation Movement, Daddy Freeze has dropped another controversial statement again. This time, he said if one’s spouse does not have access to his or her phone’s password, along with bank details, such a person is not married.

He said such people should disregard their marriage certificates as there was no sincerity in such marriage.

“If your spouse does not have access to and the password of your phone, along with your bank details/account balance, you are not married, please disregard that certificate and that joke where you tied the knot with vows in a religious shrine,” he said on his Instagram page.

According to Freeze, “For Christians, the scriptures say two became one. How can you become one with someone who can’t access your phone, email or bank details? How?

“Those pulpit gaslights have lied to you all your life, a great pity it is that you are living a lie and the consequence is your expulsion from God’s city. Many of you are living separate lives while carrying a legal document to pronounce you a couple, that’s a huge joke on no one else but you.”

Freeze added: “The fact that you got married in a religious shrine in front of a priest does not make you a married couple, as a matter of fact, you don’t need a priest or a church to get married. 1 Peter 2:5 says we are all priests, stop outsourcing your priestly role to a yahoo boy by hiring someone else to do your job, pronounce yourself married. It’s your God=given duty and it has nothing to do with the church.

“All vows are satanic, including marriage vows, Christ said so himself, when you see him, argue with him. Become one with your spouse today, or get a divorce, it’s as simple as that, stop leading another person into lust because of Godless religious traditions.”

- PM NEWS

4 arrested in Ekiti over alleged human trafficking to Italy

The operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), have arrested four persons in connection with alleged human trafficking to Italy for prostitution.

The NIS nabbed a 35-year-old Mrs Mary Omowaye at the Command’s passport office in Ado Ekiti on Tuesdays while trying to procure international passports for the victims to travel to Italy for illegal works.

The victims are: Adegoroye Abiodun, 24, Akinsanmi Titilayo Blessing, 30 and Adeyan Motunrayo, 20, all from Idanre town in Ondo State.

Addressing journalists while handing over the procurer and the three victims to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on Wednesday, the NIS Comptroller, Ekiti Command, Mrs Ifeoma Benedict Dibia, said they were nabbed after her men got wind of where they were planning to travel to.

Dibia added that her operatives have stepped up efforts to rid the state of human trafficking, child labour and prostitution in the state, going by the startling revelation made by governor Kayode Fayemi that Ekiti had become a transit state for illicit businesses.

The Comptroller said most painful and disturbing was the fact that the trend of human trafficking are common among children from broken homes.

She said Omowaye was operating in connivance with one Mr Jamiu, who normally processed traveling visas for the victims in Lagos and her sister, Jumoke, who is based in Italy.

“One of our responsibilities is to stop human trafficking and child’s labour. And when these young ladies came to our passport section to get international passport, we interrogated them and we suspected that this could be an illegal migration.

” They said they are going there to do hairdressing and as house helps, but this was how they used to trick and traffic the victims to other countries, only to get there and used them for prostitution.

“After interrogating them, we knew that they didn’t know what they were going there to do. Some of the victims are fondly being molested and died in the process.

“What we normally do is to arrest people like these, profiling them and hand them over to NAPTIP for prosecution.

” We are going to work in tandem with NAPTIP to arrest the chief syndicates, Mr Jamiu in Lagos and Jumoke in Italy for prosecution. We are also going to reunite the victims with their families for protection “, she said.

While being quizzed by NIS operatives, the procurer, Omowaye, said it was not true that she allegedly tricked the victims to travel to Italy for prostitution.

” This is not true, my younger sister there has been helping people to travel. Even my 19-year-old daughter is there, where she works as a shop keeper. We are just trying to help them”, she maintained.

One of the victims, Jumoke, said she is a hairdresser and her plan was to go there and do the job, saying the issue of prostitution did not arise.

“The woman in Italy is the one sponsoring us. We are going to work for her for six months when we get there and then regain our freedom, that was the agreement reached with us”, she revealed.

- DAILY POST

Wildfire razes over 50 houses, livestock in Jigawa

A wildfire has razed over 50 houses, grain silos and livestock in Barebari village in Ringim local government area of Jigawa State.

The inferno, which started around 11am on Tuesday, was quenched by the operatives of the fire service and good Samaritans by 5pm, by which time it has consumed property worth millions of Naira.

The Executive Secretary of Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Sani Yusuf Babura, confirmed the incident to DAILY POST.

He added that the agency was working hard on ways to assist the victims of the inferno.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report, and there is no report of loss of life.

- DAILY POST

Mourinho reveals number of clubs he has declined since Man Utd sack

Jose Mourinho says he has turned down offers from up to four clubs since he was sacked as Manchester United last December.

After winning the EFL Cup, FA Community Shield and Europa League in his two-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford, the Portuguese coach was fired following United’s poor start to this season and replaced by caretaker manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

“It’s been two and a half months since I’ve been without coaching and I’m already preparing for my next challenge.

“I know exactly what I don’t want, that is why I’ve turned down three or four offers.

“I know what I want, not the name of the club, but the type of work and the workload. I want to coach a team starting in June, in time for preseason,” Mourinho told BeIN Sports France.

The 56-year-old has been a reported target of former clubs: Benfica, Real Madrid and Inter Milan in recent months.

- DAILY POST