10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers Friday morning, October 11, 2019

These 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers will interest you this Friday morning, October 11, 2019.

1. 2020 BUDGET: States, LGs to get 85 percent of VAT – Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has described the 2020 Budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari as a pro-people and pro-state budget. According to the minister, states and local governments in the country will receive 85 per cent of the Value Added Tax to be raised in the 2020 budget to take care of salaries and infrastructure investment.

2. 2020 BUDGET: Senators query proposed VAT increase, others

The Nigerian Senate on Thursdays continued the debate on the general principles of the 2020 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari, with many of the lawmakers picking holes in the planned increase in Value Added Tax, implementation of the 2019 budget and allocation for debt servicing. According to the lawmakers, the proposed increment in the VAT from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent could cripple the activities of the small and medium enterprises.

3. BUDGET 2020: Agbakoba wants Buhari’s govt to consider granting pardon to criminals in exchange for their loot

In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president and maritime lawyer, Dr Olisa Agbakoba Thursday urged the Federal Government to consider pardon from criminal prosecution as a way of generating revenue. Agbakoba who commended the president for presenting the 2020 appropriation bill on time, said the government can generate as much as $100 billion in revenue by providing legislation that will see criminals get pardoned from criminal prosecution. He said this will likely result in a massive inflow of public funds stashed in foreign bank accounts.

4. Presidency now a den of thieves , fraudsters —PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday described the presidency under President Muhammadu Buhari as a den of thieves. The party claimed that the “arrest of yet another scammer linked with the Presidency further confirmed the administration had become “a den of thieves” and “breeds and facilitate swindlers and treasury looters.”

5. We have recovered over N1tn looted funds – Sagay

The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay, on Thursday revealed that over N1 trillion looted from government treasury has been recovered. According to him, the figure is different from the cash and property stashed abroad that have been recovered.

Read also: Aviation Minister offers reasons for delay in repair works on Enugu airport

6. Lagos Assembly throws out petition accusing member of collecting $200,000 bribe

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday dismissed a petition accusing Hon. Moshood Oshun, the lawmaker representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 2, of receiving $200,000 bribe. It was alleged that the lawmaker collected the sum from three companies in order to cover up for their non-performing contracts worth over N9bn awarded to them by the immediate past Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

7. Unlike in the past, there is ‘zero’ corruption in fuel subsidy under Buhari — Sagay

Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Itsey Sagay, says unlike under previous governments, the fuel subsidy regime under President Muhammadu Buhari is devoid of corruption. Sagay also said the monies recovered from corrupt Nigerians have been ploughed back into the country’s treasury to make life better for citizens.

8. Ambode’s battles continue as Lagos Assembly threatens him with warrant of arrest

The Lagos State House of Assembly Thursday threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the immediate past governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode and four of his commissioners over their failure to give a detailed account of what transpired when his administration procured 820 mass transit buses for the state. The affected former commissioners are Kazeem Adeniji (Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice), Olusegun Banjo (Budget), Akinyemi Ashade ( Finance) and Wale Oluwo (Energy and Mineral Resources).

9. Ekiti proposes castration for rapists in new law amendment

If the proposed amendments to the Gender based Violence (Prohibition) Law of the Ekiti State Government gets the nod of the state House of Assembly, rapists in the state will be made to under go medical castration, among other punishments. This was revealed by the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, during the public hearing of the GVB Amendment Bill on Thursday at the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Ado Ekiti.

10. 281 ex-Boko Haram fighters complete de-radicalisation programme

The Defence Headquarters has said that about 281 repentant Boko Haram fighters have completed its de-radicalisation programme under the Operation Safe Corridor programme in Gombe State. According to the DHQ, the former Boko Haram fighters have been taken through a 52-week “psycho-spiritual counselling and pyscho-therapy” under the programme which began in September 2015. Operation Safe Corridor is targeted at encouraging willing and repentant Boko Haram terrorists to surrender and go through a structured de-radicalisation process. They are taken through spiritual and vocational counselling.

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