Lagos preparing for VAT collection, says LIRS (Punch)
The Lagos State Inland Revenue Service has said it is ready for Value Added Tax collection.
It disclosed this in an answer to a question raised during the LCCI’s ‘SMEGroup Workshop on Assisting MSMEs with Regulatory Compliance’ that held on Thursday.
When asked about VAT, Assistant Director of Taxes, LIRS, Adetola Olanrewaju, said, “The case is in the court and there will be another hearing today. Lagos State is prepared for VAT collection, but any matter still in the court is not for public consumption.”
Olanrewaju represented the LIRS chairman, Hamzat Subair, at the event held to inform SMEs on tax compliance. Read more
Lagos police arrest robbery suspects, reject N500, 000 bribe (Guardian)
The Lagos State Police Command have arrested an armed robbery suspect and suspected cultist with a locally-made double barrel gun and three cartridges.
The suspects were arrested by the patrol team of the Area ‘J’ Command, Elemoro. Lagos State Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO), Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the armed robbery suspect, 23-year-old Alabi Timothy, a resident of 9, Baale street, Majek, Ajah, was arrested at General Paint, Garden area, Lekki during a routine stop and search by the police.
According to Ajisebutu, a locally-made double barrel gun and two live cartridges, including an expended cartridge concealed in a bag, were recovered from the suspect. Read more
Businesswoman kicks as Customs auction imported vehicle (Punch)
A businesswoman, Adetoro Olowe, has accused the Nigeria Customs Service of selling off a car she imported from the United States of America.
PUNCH Metro learnt that sometime in 2019, Olowe imported a Mercedes Benz Dodge Sprinter with chassis number WD5PD644345651104, but could not immediately clear it due to ill health.
The Osun State indigene, who noted that she eventually cleared the vehicle at the port, explained that by then it had been moved to Ikorodu by Customs.
The woman, who is also a clearing agent, said all efforts to get her vehicle out proved abortive despite paying all necessary fees, adding that the agency auctioned the vehicle without her knowledge. Read more
Naira slumps to N570/$1 at parallel market as scarcity bites harder (Tribune)
The gap between the official and unofficial market exchange rates widened to N157.94 at the close of business on Thursday, as one dollar exchanged for N570.00 due to scarcity of the greenback.
In the same vein, one British pound exchanged for N770, while one Euro went for N655. Specifically, Naira fell significantly against the U.S dollar at the parallel market on Thursday, falling further from N562 per $1 it exchanged on Wednesday, according to information obtained from AbokiFX.
This implies an N8.00 or 0.90 devaluation from the N557.00 it traded on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the naira remained stable against the greenback at the official market on Wednesday and Thursday, as foreign exchange turnover remained unchanged from what was posted in the previous session on Tuesday. Read more
Court jails two oil thieves in Port Harcourt (Guardian)
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, sentenced Lawan Abdulahi and Collins Osayande to two years imprisonment for illegal dealing in petroleum products.
Justice S. Pam convicted them after pleading guilty to one count charge bordering on illegal dealings in petroleum products upon their arraignment by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC).
Defence counsel, E. E. Wvwiekpaefe and O. N. Okek, did not oppose the prayers of the prosecution, but urged the court to temper justice with mercy, as the defendants were first-time offenders. Read more
Matawalle: We stopped dialoguing with bandits because of their deceit (ThisDay)
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has declared that the state government stopped dialoguing with bandits troubling the state because of their deceit.
Matawalle, who accused the bandits of reneging on earlier agreements reached with them, however, disclosed that relative peace had since returned to the state with the people now happy and going about their normal business.
The governor Thursday told newsmen after meting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, that the state government had been steadfast in the fight against banditry.
According to him, people had started seeing results of the stringent measures put in place to restore security, adding that though the measures were tough, the people had not minded,because they are now feeling secured. Read more
Rivers prophetess, woman sentenced to life imprisonment for killing lover with poison (Punch)
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced two women, Onyema Worlu, and Edina Lovelyn-Worleru, to life improvement for causing the death of a man, Israel Georgewill.
Lovelyn-Worleru, a prophetess in a church in Rumuche community, in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state, was said to have prepared a poisonous substance in the name of love portion for Worlu to put in the food of her boyfriend, Georgewill, in 2012.
The trial judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, in his judgment after over nine years of legal battle, found the two guilty of the crime and convicted them.
Justice Enebeli convicted them for manslaughter, instead of the murder charge in an earlier suit on the incident. Read more
IPMAN urges members to resume operations as PTD suspends strike (Guardian)
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), yesterday, directed its members in the Southeast to resume sale of petrol at between N162 and N165 per litre.
This followed the suspension of the strike embarked upon by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) in the Southeast zone.
Chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Depot Community in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, Chinedu Anyaso, gave the directive at an interactive session with journalists in Awka.
He disclosed that the decision to suspend the strike was reached on Wednesday at a meeting between the Imo State Government, representatives of the national leadership of IPMAN and PTD in Owerri, Imo State. Read more
Father files $1m lawsuit after teacher cuts child’s hair (BBC)
The father of a seven-year-old girl whose hair was cut by a teacher without parental permission is suing the school district and two staff members for $1m.
Jimmy Hoffmeyer’s lawsuit says the constitutional rights of his mixed-race daughter have been violated.
He has pulled his daughter out of the school.
An investigation by the school district concluded in July that while the teacher had broken school policy she had not acted with racial bias. Read more
‘Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’ star Mo Fayne sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for fraud (NYPost)
Reality TV star and rapper Maurice “Mo” Fayne has been sentenced to 17.5 years behind bars for operating a multi-million Ponzi scheme and stealing more than $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds — which he then used to fund his scam and lease a Rolls-Royce.
The “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star was handed the lengthy federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges in May, the US Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
He was also ordered to pay $4,465,865.55 in restitution to victims.
In April 2020, Fayne submitted a $3.7 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application to United Community Bank — falsely claiming that he needed the funds to pay the 107 employees of his trucking business “Flame Trucking,” which was struggling during the pandemic. Read more
Mum, 55, and daughter, 32, both die of Covid after refusing to get the jab (Metro)
A care worker and her mother both died of coronavirus within two weeks of each other after they both decided not to get the vaccine.
Heather Maddern, 55, also a care worker, died on August 31 in Ulster Hospital near Belfast, in Northern Ireland.
Her daughter, Sammie-Jo Forde, 32, who had no underlying health conditions, died on the same ward last Saturday.
Ms Forde’s dad, Kevin McAllister, has said he will be ‘haunted for the rest of his life’ over his daughter not getting jabbed. Read more
France suspends 3,000 unvaccinated health workers who missed Covid deadline (RFI)
Some 3,000 health workers across France have been suspended without pay for failing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, Health Minister Olivier Veran has said.
In line with a new rule which came into force on Wednesday, France’s 2.7 million health, care home and fire service and ambulance workers must have had at least a first dose, unless they had a valid reason to be exempted.
Veran said 3,000 employees at health centres and clinics who had not yet been vaccinated had been notified on Wednesday.
However, “a large number of these suspensions are only temporary” he said, with many agreeing to get jabbed because “they see the vaccination mandate is a reality”. Read more
Prince Philip’s will to be secret for 90 years (BBC)
The Duke of Edinburgh’s will is to remain secret for at least 90 years to protect the “dignity and standing” of the Queen, the High Court has ruled.
It has been convention for over a century that, after the death of a senior member of the Royal Family, the courts are asked to seal their wills.
It means that, unlike most wills granted probate, it will not be open to public inspection.
There will be a private process in 90 years to decide if it can be unsealed. Read more
Eagles retain 34th position in latest FIFA ranking (Punch)
Nigeria remained unmoved in the latest FIFA rankings for the month of September as they retained their 34th position.
The latest ranking was released on Thursday.
In Africa, the Super Eagles maintained their fifth position, while Tunisia are 25th in the world and second on the continent behind Senegal, who are Africa’s number one team and are 20th in the world.
The three-time African champions played two matches in the month under review as they began their World Cup qualifiers campaign with a 2-0 win over Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, before another victory against Cape Verde four days later.
The two victories in September were, however, not enough to move Nigeria up in the ranking. Read more
Tottenham star Son Heung-min reveals he supported Manchester United as a kid (Metro)
Tottenham star Son Heung-min has revealed that he was a big Manchester United supporter when he was growing up, though has had to shelve his allegiances since joining Spurs.
The South Korean attacker – who is currently sidelined with a calf injury – has established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League since swapping Bayer Leverkusen for north London in 2015.
He has hit double figures for both goals and assists in each of the last two seasons and committed his long-term future to Tottenham by signing a new four-year deal over the summer. Read more
Leicester blow two-goal lead to draw with Napoli in exciting tie (BBC)
Brendan Rodgers said his “young team will learn” after they gave away a two-goal lead over Napoli in their Europa League opener at King Power Stadium.
Napoli’s Victor Osimhen scored twice in the second half after Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes had given Leicester a 2-0 lead.
Osimhen’s exquisite touch past Kasper Schmeichel reduced the deficit, before he completed the comeback with a header in the 87th minute.
“The crime isn’t giving away the two goals, the crime is if you don’t learn from it. I’m sure that is something this young team will do,” said Rodgers. Read more
Washington edge Giants 30-29 in NFL thriller (RFI)
Dustin Hopkins made the most of a second chance gifted by the New York Giants, booting a game-winning field goal as time expired as the Washington Football Team triumphed 30-29 in an entertaining Thursday Night NFL game.
New York’s Dexter Lawrence was called for offsides on Hopkins’s original — unsuccessful — field goal attempt, giving the Giants kicker another chance from five yards closer.
Lawrence’s mistake was one of several by the Giants — starting with a holding call that negated a Daniel Jones touchdown.
Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke, filling in for injured Ryan Fitzpatrick and making just his second regular-season start, piloted the clutch drive that eventually delivered victory, but not without some drama. Read more
Jose Mourinho claims Roma ‘didn’t play well’ after 5-1 win over CSKA Sofia (Metro)
Jose Mourinho was critical of his Roma team after they smashed CSKA Sofia 5-1 in the Europa Conference League and claimed the Italians ‘didn’t play well’.
Roma came from behind to crush 10-man CSKA and begin their Europa Conference League campaign in style, although Mourinho was ‘not satisfied with the performance’.
The Bulgarians took a shock lead at the Stadio Olimpico when Irish forward Graham Carey rifled home from close range.
But Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini scored twice to cancel out CSKA’s opener and put the hosts ahead, before Stephan El Shaarawy, Gianluca Mancini and Tammy Abraham sealed an emphatic 5-1 win. Read more