Davido, Coldstone, Obasanjo Farms… FIRS publishes 19,901 accounts ‘owing’ taxes

Accounts belonging to Obasanjo Farms, Iyiola Omisore and Obasanjo Farms are some of the accounts that have been placed under lien for owing taxes.

In a list published on Monday, the Federal Inland Service (FIRS) listed 19,901 accounts that were yet to regularise their tax status.

Some of the accounts published include:
◾Citiroof Aluminium Co. Ltd
◾Coldstone Creamery Limited (Yaba)
◾Davido Music Worldwide Ltd
◾Grand Square Supermarket and Stores Ltd
◾Iyiola Omisore & Par
◾Open Heavens Bliss Enterprises
◾The Assemblies of God Nigeria
◾X3M Music Limited
◾Tiger Foods Limited
◾Slot Enterprises
◾Payporte Technology Limited
◾Visionscape Sanitation Solutions Limited
◾Erisco Foods Limited Milk Cube account
◾God is Good Motors (Vehicle sales account)
◾Hubmart Stores Limited
◾Obasanjo Farms Nig. Ltd (Feedmill)
◾United Capital Plc

29 DAYS COUNTDOWN…

In a newspaper advertorial, the FIRS said it would enforce the payment of whatever outstanding each company had.

“This is to notify all Companies, which had their Bank Accounts placed under Lien by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) pursuant to Section 31 of the FIRSE Act, but are yet to regularise their tax status with the FIRS, that if they fail, refuse or neglect to pay the tax due within 30 days of this Notice, the FIRS shall in accordance with Section 49 (2) (a- d) of the FIRSE Act proceed and enforce the payment of the said tax against all the Directors, Managers, Secretaries and every other person concerned in the management of the Companies and recover the said tax from such persons without further notice,” it said.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the above Section authorises the FIRS to proceed against and punish every officer, Manager, Director, Secretary or any person concerned with the management of the Company in like manner as if he/she had committed the offence.”

Under lien gives the FIRS the power to hold on to the accounts and deduct whatever the customer owes.

- THECABLE

Jose explains why Messi is not world best player yet

Former Real Madrid manager, Jose Antonio Camacho, has insisted that Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi cannot be the best player in the world without a FIFA World Cup trophy.

The 64-year-old, who admitted that he is a big admirer of the Argentine international, said unless the Barca number 10 wins the World Cup, he cannot be called world best player.

“Lionel Messi is a very good player, but you can’t be the best in the world – let alone in history – if you are an Argentinian and you have not won a World Cup,” Camacho told Spanish newspaper, El Mundo.

“There are countries with lesser tradition when it comes to world football – where winning the World Cup is not as significant an achievement as in other countries – but Argentina is a dominant force.

“No, without a World Cup, Messi can’t be the best.

“A World Cup is the best you can aspire to and Argentinians will always demand it.”

Camacho added: “He can decide a game at any time.

“There can be a total balance between two teams but he is Lionel Messi and he can break that balance suddenly.”

Messi, who has won five Ballon d’Or awards as well as four Champions League trophies and nine La Liga titles, is yet to win a World Cup.

- DAILY POST

Internet fraudster jailed for defrauding foreigner $600

A federal high court in Port Harcourt, Rivers state has sentenced one Paul Otanor to six months imprisonment for defrauding a foreigner of the sum of $600.

Tony Orilade, spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Otanor was handed the sentence after he was convicted of the crime by A. T. Mohammed, the presiding judge.

He was arraigned by the Port Harcourt’s zonal office of the anti-graft agency on a one-count charge bordering on impersonation.

The offence is contrary to “Section 22 (3) (a) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the same Act”.

Trouble started for Otanor in May 2019 when operatives of the EFCC arrested him in Warri, Delta state for internet-related offences.

“Documents containing false pretences were found on him,” the statement read.

“He confessed to the crime through his written statements that he was operating different gmail accounts and identities to defraud his unsuspecting victims. Some of the gmail accounts are: paulnewlife217@gmail.com, otanor70@gmail.com and kentymark455@gmail.com. He was thereafter, charged with internet fraud.”

“The charge reads: “That you, Paul Otanor (a.k.a. Kent Mark) sometimes in May 2019, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court fraudulently impersonated one Kent Mark with intent to gain advantage for yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (3) (a) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the same Act”.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

The trail judge subsequently convicted and sentenced him to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100,000. He also directed that the $600 fraudulently obtained from Brenda Pearson be returned to her.

- THECABLE

Five killed as 2 buildings collapse in Jigawa

Five persons were killed on Monday when two residential buildings collapsed in Kuraduge and Madachi villages of Kirikasamma Local Government Area of Jigawa.

According to NAN, Alhaji Salisu Garba-Kubayo, Chairman, Kirikasamma Local Government, who spoke on the development, said that the houses collapsed “during a heavy rainfall”.

“Three persons – a mother, Halima Manu, her daughter, Aisha Manu, and son, Dauda Manu, were killed in Kuraduge village, while a man, Musa Wuliwuli, and his wife, Hauwa Musa, were killed in Madachi village.

“The rain also destroyed 200 houses in Kukadabu, 100 houses in Mattafari and 30 houses in Kuraduge,” he said, adding that most parts of the local government were affected by the flood disaster.

He called on the Jigawa and Federal Governments to come to the aid of the victims.

“As we speak, more than 30 villages in Kirikasamma have been taken over by flood as a result of heavy rain.

“We have provided thousands of sacks to residents of these villages to erect sand-bag embankments to check the flood; they have spent days and nights doing this.

“But, containing this problem is beyond our capacity; we want the Jigawa and Federal Governments to come to our aid,” he pleaded.

- DAILY POST

FG docks American-based business woman over alleged N22.9bn fraud

An American based businesswoman, Mimie Oshodin, was on Monday arraigned by the Federal government at the Federal High Court, Abuja over an alleged N22.9bn fraud.

The businesswoman, whose husband, Bob Oshodin was said to be at large, was arraigned on a 25-count charge bordering on sales of a furniture manufacturing company to the Federal government to the tune of $55m dollars.

Mrs Oshodin, who has been in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for over 70 days, however denied the charges.

Amongst others, the defendant was said to have sold the company to the Federal government in 2014 and received the alleged sum through the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) then under Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd).

The anti-graft agency also alleged that the defenfant received the said amount in about 15 tranches through her family company, Bob Oshodin Organization Limited, which is the 1st defenfant in the charge.

Shortly after the arrangement, her lawyer, Osahon Idemudia, pleaded with the trial judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, to admit the defenfant to bail in liberal terms pending the determination of the trial.

Idemudia, while moving the bail application drew the attention of the judge to the fact that, she has been in the underground cell of the EFCC for about 70 days without electricity.

Idemudia further told the court that the alleged offence borders on civil contract freely entered by the Federal government and the defenfant and that the defenfant is committed to accelerated trial to enable her clear her name from the allegations.

The lawyer debunked the anti-graft agency’s claim that Mrs Oshodin jumped the administrative bail granted her by the agency, adding that the EFCC did not make any attempt directly to get her, but only directed her surety to produce her.

Idemudia, therefore, pleaded with the court to use its discretion in favour of the defenfant especially on conditions of her ill-health.

The EFCC, however, vehemently objected to the bail application on the grounds that the defenfant may likely jump bail if granted because her husband and all her children are based in the United States of America.

EFCC’s lawyer, Aisha Habib, however said if the court was inclined to grant the application, it should do so with some conditions that will ensure the defendant is available for trial.

Justice Taiwo after argument from counsel in the matter adjourned till August 21 for ruling.

The judge also ordered that the defendant remain in the custody of the Commission till the next adjourned date.

- DAILY POST

Facebook launches “Developer Circles” in Benin

Facebook has launched its “Developers Circles’’ in Benin, Edo, a platform that allows people who are technologically inclined to engage with experts, learn new technology and collaborate with developers to build tech products.

Speaking during the inauguration of the Facebook Circles in Benin, Mr Izoduwa Asemota, a co-lead of the facebook developer circle, said the platform“is a community for developers to create problem-solving tech products.’’

Asemota said the platform was meant to create a community of people who are passionate about technology and to produce entrepreneurs in the technology sector.

“It will bring a lot of youths together to work at startup groups and build products that will help to develop the community,” he said.

He said the Benin circle looked forward to having an incubation centre where startups would be mentored and they would be able to come up with great products.

Mrs Ukinebo Dare, Senior Special Assistant to Edo Governor on Skills Development and Jobs Creation, said Edo government was proud to be part of the facebook developer circle.

“It has been launched in Lagos with about 20,000 members and as at today about 1, 000 members have registered on the Benin platform and we expect more people to register,” he said

Dare who was represented by Mrs Uyi Umaigba, Director for Cluster Promotion and Management, Edo jobs, said the platform was an opportunity for developers to collaborate, get educated and grow their start-ups and business ideas.

She assured that the state government would create a platform to interface with other creative hubs located in the Edo Innovation hub.

Some of the registered members of the Benin platform who were At the event commended Facebook and the Edo government for the huge opportunity given to youths to become tech- entrepreneurs.

They said the platform would also give youths the opportunity to contribute to development of the state by creating tech products that would solve problems in society.

- PM NEWS

33 Boko Haram fighters, 37 aid workers killed

At least 33 Boko Haram militants were killed by Nigerian troops in a gunfight on Sunday, according to military sources on Tuesday.

Multinational troops fighting Boko Haram along the Lake Chad fringes also joined in the gunfight, said the sources who asked to be anonymous.

The multinational force comprises troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin.The gunfight lasted for about three hours, along the Gamboru-Dikwa road in Borno.

One source said, the Boko Haram militants had laid an ambush for a convoy of military vehicles.

“Many Boko Haram fighters fled with bullet wounds. It was a tough battle,” said the source. 

One other military source confirmed four soldiers, however, sustained injuries during the gunfight. 

Two gun trucks used by the militants were recovered after the gunfight, the source said.

Also in the north east region, 37 aid workers were confirmed killed following the decade-long activities of terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) gave the figure and called for the protection of people engaged in humanitarian services in the country.

Since 2018, attacks on humanitarian workers in Nigeria’s northeast region, the stronghold of Boko Haram, had become even worse, the UN agency said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Abuja on Tuesday.

“As respect for the laws of war weakens, aid workers are increasingly vulnerable, though they are more needed than ever before,” the statement said. “March 2018 has marked a turning point, humanitarian workers are a target in Nigeria.”

The latest of this kind of attacks occurred on July 18, when Boko Haram attacked a convoy of vehicles conveying aid workers to Damasak area of Borno, one of three northeastern states most-hit by the Boko Haram militancy in Nigeria. In that attack, one driver was killed and six others, including four health personnel and two drivers, were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

They were on their way to provide life-saving assistance to individuals and families affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the northeast of Nigeria when they were ambushed by the Boko Haram militants. 

Incidents involving or directly targeting aid workers had persisted unabated in Nigeria’s northeast region since three humanitarians were killed and three women and others abducted in Rann, the location of an internally displaced persons’ camp in Borno, by Boko Haram in March 2018, the UN agency noted.

“I want to say enough to armed attacks against humanitarians; enough attacks against aid convoys, enough kidnappings and enough to lootings of vital assistance meant for the millions in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, who desperately need it,” added the statement by Peter Ekayu, head of UNOCHA in Nigeria. 

The northeast region of Nigeria has been destabilized for over a decade by Boko Haram. Boko Haram is known for its agenda to maintain a virtual caliphate in the most populous African country.

Reported by Xinhua 

Nigerian Prison Service: Expert knocks FG over change of name

An expert in human sociology and criminology, Dr Kayode Akinleye has knocked the Nigerian government over the change in the name of Nigerian Prison Service to Nigerian Correctional Service, saying” the FG has ignorantly put the cat before the horse “.

DAILY POST recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari recently accented to the Nigerian Correctional Service Bill, thereby making it an act of the parliament and permanently changed the age-long name of the Nigerian Prison Service to Nigerian Correctional Service.

Akinleye, in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Monday in Osogbo, the Osun State capital said what the bill ought to have been prioritised was the total reform of the Nigerian Prison , which would see to proper reorganisation and rearrangement.

He explained that the present state of prisons all over the country urgently requires quick intervention and attention from the government beyond change in name.

The expert maintained that in as much as the change in name is also of paramount importance, it should be the last stage of the process and not the starting point.

He noted that neglect on the part of government, coupled with high level of corruption amongst prison officials have rendered prisons across the country ineffective to correct social vices and to a large extent constitute serious danger to the society.

He said :” Nigerian prisons are constituting serious menace to the society instead of rehabilitating offenders and reintegrating them back into the society for better living.

“It will shock you to note that more than eighty per cent of small scale criminals who went into Nigerian prisons graduated to large scale crime by the time they came out of prisons.

“The terrible state of Nigerian prisons in terms of decrepit infrastructure as a result of neglect by the government, together with deep rooted corruption amongst prison officials portend a scaring omen for our society”, he said.

Akinleye however implored the Federal government to quickly move and set up a virile committee, which should comprise sincere professionals and experts who understand modern prison arrangement.

He called for urgent infrastructural intervention in all the prisons all over Nigeria for the purpose of decongestion, and provision of comprehensive vocational programmes to empower inmates and prepare them for life after prison.

According to him, social engagement in the area of skill acquisition and robust reorientation programmes would go a long way to reintegrate inmates back into the society .

“Changing of name should not be the first phase of the proposed reform in the Nigerian Prison. The level of social decadence in that institution is indeed alarming and unimaginable.

” I expected government to first and foremost embark on aggressive infrastructural development in all the prisons across the country and also purge it’s officials of corrupt practices which have eaten deep into the fabric of that organisation and seriously posing a serious threat to our society.

“To me, changing the name before the structure is like putting the cat before horse, and also akin to organising a naming ceremony for an unborn child”.

South East Governors write Buhari, make fresh demands on Fulani herdsmen, Enugu airport

Governors from the Southeast region of the country, under the auspices of the South-East Governors’ Forum, on Tuesday, wrote President Muhammadu Buhari on issues bothering on the closure of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, and the incessant attacks on the people of the region by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The Governors asked Buhari to approve their earlier resolution banning herdsmen without cattle and movement of cattle by foot in the zone.

A letter which was addressed to the President was signed by Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi.

In the letter, the governors demanded a postponement of the closure of the airport, saying that this will enable them to make adequate arrangements for airport users in the zone as well as carry out some remedial works in the Airport.

Recall that the Federal Government, through the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, General Manager in charge of Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu, had at the weekend revealed that it will close the runway at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu for major repairs and works on the airfield.

The Governors said the move was prompt and will not give them any time to make adequate security arrangement for the convenience of the people and visitors to the zone.

They said that the Federal Ministry of Works in collaboration with the Southeast Governors’ Forum should be directed to carry out palliative repairs on the major roads leading to the alternative airports as well as clear all the bushes along the routes for a better view of road users.

The Governors asked that 24-hour joint security patrol be provided for the safety of the people and visitors to the South East who will be using the roads day and night through the alternative airports.

The letter reads “the Southeast Governors’ Forum highly appreciates Your Excellency Mr. President for granting our request for the immediate resurfacing of the tarmac and extension of the runway of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu for public safety.

“May we use this opportunity to also thank you for the consistent progress of works at the Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha and other federal government projects in the South East especially the completion of the Zik’s Mausoleum in Onitsha and 2.8 megawatt solar power plant at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State.

“As we thank you, Mr. President, we are constrained to ask for your kind intervention in the observations we have made to the Federal Ministries of Transport (Aviation sector) and Works on the closure of the airport for the renovation works.

“Your Excellency, in our letters to the respective ministries, we observed that the notification of the closure was prompt giving us no time to make adequate arrangement for the security and convenience of

“our people and visitors to the South East who will be traveling long instances to alternative airports where flights will be diverted to.

“We request that the closure of the airport be deferred to the end of October 2019 to enable adequate arrangements to be made for the security of the airport users and for few remedial works within seven (7) days to be carried out at the tarmac to ensure safety.

“That Mr. President do approve the earlier resolution of the southeast Governors banning herdsmen without cattle and movement of cattle by foot in the zone to eliminate increasing cases of killing, maiming, raping of our women, the kidnapping of our people and the destruction of our farmlands mostly carried out by foreign herdsmen and in most cases with the backing of some compromised local herders.

“We plead with Mr. President that we publish this letter to assuage our people’s feelings who erroneously think that no efforts are being made by the leaders of the South East to tackle insecurity and economic challenges facing the zone and to let them know that her leaders before now have been working very hard without making noise as issues of security must not be discussed in the public.”

- DAILY POST