Sanwo-Olu presents N2.23tn budget for 2024.

Sanwo-Olu presents N2.23tn budget for 2024.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday presented an N2.23 trillion appropriation bill to the House of Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year.

The ‘Budget of Renewal’ is made up of recurrent expenditure of N1.02 trillion (45 per cent) and capital expenditure of N1.224 trillion (55 per cent). The state envisages N1.847,951 trillion in revenue for the year,

Economic Affairs takes a chunk of the budget proposal with N535 billion while Education comes second with N199 billion.

The provision of “very important infrastructure viz Fourth Mainland Bridge, Food and Logistics Hub, Lagos/Epe International Airport” falls within “Economic Affairs.”

A further breakdown of the proposed budget shows that Health will take N156 billion; Environment, N94 billion, Public Order and Safety, N84 billion and Social Protection, N50 billion.

Sanwo-Olu noted that the 2024 appropriation bill will further cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic hardships on the people.

He said: “Mr Speaker, I am indeed privileged to present to you today the Y2024 Budget proposal, tagged ‘The Budget of Renewal’. The process of putting this together has been very carefully guided by our THEMES Governing agenda, which has been with us since the start of the administration, and which we have recently expanded to THEMES+, the ‘+’ embodying our renewed focus on social inclusion, gender equality and youth development; our goal that in Lagos State, no one should or will be left behind.

“We have gone through some very difficult times, but while the pain is temporary, the dividends of the necessary investments we are making will be here to stay. We are working closely with the Federal Government to ramp up relief measures to help the people alleviate the pains of the subsidy removal and the impact of high inflation. 

“We are especially concerned about transportation and food costs, and in 2024, we will be keying into the targeted food security initiatives of the Federal Government. For transportation, we are fully on board with the Federal Government’s CNG-powered buses initiative, which will deliver sizable numbers of these buses to each state for public transportation. 

“The development of any megacity like ours is the responsibility of both the public and private sectors. To this end, we will continue to explore public-private-partnership strategies in the provision of infrastructure, social services, and the conversion of challenges to opportunities within the context of scarce resources.”

The governor noted that the 2023 budget of N1.7 trillion, as of Q3 ending September 30, had achieved a N1.032 trillion implementation, representing 78 per cent of the prorated estimate of N1.326 trillion.

Speaker of the Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said the budget must address the daunting economic challenges, and must be tailored towards improving the lives of residents.

Obasa, in his remarks after the governor’s presentation, said the government should begin to look at better ways to alleviate poverty beyond giving out packaged foodstuff.

The speaker also called for the employment of more people for the effective implementation of government policies, as well as effective youth engagement through sports and related activities.

He said: “It is important for us to apply the right indices towards ensuring a performing and functioning budget that would lift our people out of poverty and reposition the state towards infrastructural growth and renewal. Palliatives should move from just giving people ‘garri’, rice, beans or even money. We should have a direction that is focused, impactful and deeply backed up by effective policy implementations.

“Medicines should be provided at all public hospitals at subsidised rates, and focus should be on the downward review of treatment costs..”

Mohbad: Naira Marley accuses Iyabo Ojo of defamation, demands N500m.

Mohbad: Naira Marley accuses Iyabo Ojo of defamation, demands N500m.

Nigerian entertainer, Afeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, has taken legal action against actress, Iyabo Ojo, alleging the dissemination of false and defamatory content on her Instagram account.

In a letter sent to Ojo, Naira Marley’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, outlined the accusations made in a September 2023 post, stating that the actress accused Naira Marley of engaging in spiritual and physical dealings with the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, widely known as Mohbad.

The lawyer further asserted that Ojo accused Naira Marley of causing mental harm to Mohbad, whom he referred to as a brother.

Naira Marley’s attorney is seeking a redress of N500 million from Ojo and a public apology.

The counsel asked that the apology be posted on Ojo’s official Instagram account and published in a national daily.

According to Naira Marley’s lawyer, failure to adhere to the condition placed before her would force them to file a lawsuit against her.

 

The letter in part reads, “We are Solicitors to Azeez Fashola (a.k.a. Naira Marley) an internationally renowned British and Nigerian Singer/Artist with over seven million followers hereinafter referred to as our client pursuant to whose instruction we write concerning the aboveheaded subject matter.

“It is necessary to preface this letter by stating that in recognition of the iconic status of our client, the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) engaged him to use his skills and platforms to put out content that will discourage millions of his followers and Nigerian youths from substance abuse.

 

“It is our instruction that sometime in September 2023, you maliciously and falsely published of and concerning our client on your official instagram handle ‘iyaboojofespris’ the following words: and destroying their lives and leaving them without a kobo to get help…….you go still explain taya bcos evidence dey, that your interview you go still re do am again…….make we get justice for Mohbad first”.

“It is unarguably clear that the above quoted words are in their ordinary and natural meanings meant or were understood to mean by ordinary right thinking members of the public that have read the post that our Client is a drug addict and that he laced the food and drinks which our Client gave to the boys staying with him with drugs with the resultant effect of occasioning monumental destruction of their lives.

 

“Your publication of the above words on the internet which is readily accessible to users of the system constituted a very serious libel and has caused our client colossal damage to his reputation.

“It is incontestably clear that the above-quoted publication which has been read by countless internet users globally is defamatory of our Client and has brought him to public ridicule and contempt with the resultant damage to our Client’s reputation.

 

“It is our further instruction that since the publication our Client has been inundated with calls from his followers, colleagues, friends and fans all over the world who had read the post expressing their disgust and dismay at the defamatory and libellous publication you had maliciously and falsely posted on your official instagram handle “iyaboojofespris” of and concerning our Client.”

US House launches Republican impeachment inquiry against Biden.

US House launches Republican impeachment inquiry against Biden.

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, escalating Republicans’ battle with Democrats ahead of the 2024 election in a move Biden himself slammed as a “baseless” stunt.

Republicans, seizing on Biden’s son Hunter’s controversial international dealings, have yet to provide evidence of corruption by the president, and the Democratic-led Senate would be unlikely to convict him even if the inquiry did lead to an actual impeachment trial.Regardless, the procedure guarantees Republicans a new, high-profile platform to attack Biden as he campaigns for reelection — and to distract from the federal criminal trials facing his almost certain challenger Donald Trump.

The vote of 221 to 212 was along strict party lines, with every Republican voting for it and every Democrat against.

Conservatives accuse Biden’s troubled son Hunter of influence-peddling — effectively trading on the family name in pay-to-play schemes during his business dealings in Ukraine and China.

The allegations against Hunter Biden refer to incidents that took place before his father became president, and the White House has stressed there has been no wrongdoing.

Biden himself responded immediately after the vote, accusing Republicans of stalling on key fronts — such as funding government — while obsessing over scoring political points ahead of the election.

“Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies,” Biden said in a statement.

“Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.”

“As President Biden continues to stonewall lawful Congressional subpoenas, today’s vote of the full House of Representatives authorizing the inquiry puts us in the strongest position to enforce these subpoenas in court,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of Republican leadership.

“The American people deserve answers,” they said in a joint statement. “This impeachment inquiry will help us find them.”

Hunter Biden, whose chaotic personal life and business dealings have become a magnet for right-wing conspiracy theories and media investigations, issued an angry statement in Washington.

“My father was not financially involved in my business,” he said.

A Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist whose life has been marred by personal tragedy, alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction, Hunter Biden was speaking to reporters from Capitol Hill, after refusing to attend a closed-door hearing led by Republicans just inside.

Egged on by Trump — who was impeached twice, including for his attempts to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to Biden — the Republican Party first began probing a possible Biden impeachment earlier this year. Hearings began late September, leading to the decision to hold Wednesday’s vote.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer charged Wednesday that the investigations so far have “revealed how Joe Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden name around the world.”

Experts interviewed during the proceedings, however, said there was no evidence to justify a Biden impeachment. And Democrats say the Republicans are playing pure politics.

“There is zero evidence that President Biden has engaged in any wrongdoing,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday.

The US Constitution provides that Congress may remove a president for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Impeachment by the House, which is the political equivalent of a criminal indictment, would spark a trial by the Senate, with the president losing his job if convicted — an unlikely scenario for Biden given the chamber’s Democratic control.

Although three US presidents have been impeached — Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Trump in 2019 and 2021 — none has ever been removed from office by the Senate.

AFP

Congo opposition candidate suspends presidential campaign after violence.

Congo opposition candidate suspends presidential campaign after violence.

One of the main opposition candidates for Congo’s presidential election next week, Moise Katumbi, suspended part of his campaign on Wednesday after violent clashes at one of his election rallies.

Live rounds were fired and several people were injured as Katumbi addressed supporters in the coastal town of Moanda on Tuesday, marking an escalation in tension ahead of the Dec. 20 vote. There are differing accounts of the incident.

The provincial government said in a statement that Katumbi’s guards fired warning shots after the crowd grew rowdy, stoking tension and jostling. The police used tear gas to restore order.

Several people were injured, including a police officer who was seriously hurt, and investigations into the incident are ongoing, the statement said.

Katumbi said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that police shot live bullets at people and that the incident had been orchestrated to create violence.

“In order to avoid further provocation, I have decided to temporarily suspend my meeting with citizens in (the cities of) Kananga and Tshikapa,” he said, referring to events scheduled for Wednesday.

Kananga and Tshikapa are in the Kasai-Central province, which is a stronghold for President Felix Tshisekedi’s supporters.

Almost 44 million people are registered to vote in an election that will determine whether Tshisekedi will remain in office after a first term characterised by economic hardship and insecurity

Katumbi is one of more than two dozen candidates in the presidential race that also includes leading opposition candidate Martin Fayulu and Nobel Peace Prize-winning gynaecologist Denis Mukwege.

There have been several challenges in the run-up to the polls, including alleged irregularities in voter registration and difficulty distributing voting materials. 

Reuters/NAN

Embrace repentant insurgents, Zulum urges Borno communities.

Embrace repentant insurgents, Zulum urges Borno communities.

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday, urged communities in the state to embrace the repentant insurgents.

The governor stated this in Maiduguri, the state capital, during the presentation of the state’s N340.6 billion 2024 Appropriation Bill to the state House of Assembly.

Zulum revealed that the recent Niger Republic coup has stalled the repatriation of the over 120,000 Nigerian refugees back home from the neighbouring francophone country.

Since the beginning of the implementation of the Federal Government’s ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ and the Borno State Government’s programme of reintegrating the ex-combatants in their home communities, fears have raged over possible retribution by those whose relations they killed or maimed during the insurgency.

However, Zulum urged that instead of retribution, the communities should live in harmony and support the surrendered insurgents to resettle and reintegrate well at home.

“I want to call on the people of Borno State to support the repentant Boko Haram insurgents,” he said, revealing that over 160,000 insurgents and their families have so far repented.

“We understand your fears, but imagine that these people are left in the bush; they would have been wreaking more havoc than imagined,” Zulum maintained, adding that “managing them in repentance is, therefore, better.”

The governor revealed that he had been able to secure €10 million and €500,000 grants from Germany and Switzerland, among other grants and donations, towards the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons and the reintegration of the repentant insurgents in their ancestral communities.

“I will continue to pursue more grants for the programme,” he said.

Speaking on the repatriation of the Nigerian refugees, Zulum had earlier listed some of the projects his administration planned to execute in the Northern Borno Local Government Areas without mentioning Guzamala LGA, the home LGA of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Abdulkatim Lawan.

“Mr. Speaker, I know you will be surprised that I did not mention your Local Government Area, ” he turned jokingly at the Speaker.

“The coup de tat in the Niger Republic has impeded our plan to repatriate Abadam and Guzamala people (refugees) home from that country,” apparently saying that the refugees have to be repatriated and the IDPs from the two LGAs may have to be returned home before any project is executed.

Finance and Economic Development take the lion’s share of N53.8 billion of the 2024 Budget of Consolidation and Progress, followed by Health, at N51.1 billion; and Education, at N39.4 billion.

Zulum begged for forgiveness from the people of the state he might have offended while discharging his gubernatorial duties and responsibilities in 2023, promising, “I will never lose focus in the discharge of my duties and responsibilities back to prosperity.”

Ekiti State Government Empowers Entrepreneurs with 100KVA Solar Inverter System.

Ekiti State Government Empowers Entrepreneurs with 100KVA Solar Inverter System.

......Commissioner Omotayo Adeola commissions 100KVA Solar Inverter, Unleashing a Wave of increased productivity and profitability for MSMEs.

The Honorable Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment - Hon. (Mrs.) Omotayo Adeola today commissioned the 100KVA Solar Inverter System donated to the Texhnology Incubation Center, Ado Ekiti by the then office of the former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo through the Ekiti State Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. 

Nestled within the Technology Incubation Centre, Ado Ekiti are entrepreneurs and MSME operating in Light manufacturing, Agro processing, Metal works and fabrication, Electrical works, Fashion and cosmetics, Building and construction and many others. 

However, a persistent challenge faced by these Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurs is the unavailability of reliable power supply. Many of them rely solely on electricity for their production, finding it financially burdensome to run generators due to escalating fuel costs. 

In addressing this issue, the Honourable Commissioner Hon. (Mrs.) Omotayo Adeola who was then Special Adviser to the Ekiti State Governor on Investment, Trade and Industry played a vital role in facilitating the provision of the 100KVA Solar inverter system from the office of the former Vice President - H.E Prof. Yemi Osinbajo aimed at providing reliable source of electricity for MSMEs and entrepreneurs so as to increase their production capacity and productivity. 

During the commission, Adeola charged the MSMEs to make judicious use of the facility, stressing that the Biodun Oyebanji administration will continue to provide shared facilities and equipment for MSMEs as the overarching goal is to foster clustered production, processing, marketing, and export, creating an environment conducive to sustained growth and prosperity within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Adeola also took time to inspect the production process of some of the processors and gave on-the-spot financial literacy and business management tips that would aid their business decisions which would further increase their productivity and profitability.

Ogun orders 17 communities to vacate forest reserve.

Ogun orders 17 communities to vacate forest reserve.

The Ogun State Government has asked 17 communities in Ijebu-East/North Local Government Area of the state to vacate the elephant conservation area in the Omo Forest Reserve.

The communities, whom the government tagged “illegal farmers and timber contractors” were ordered to vacate the area on or before January 15, 2024.

The state Commissioner for Forestry, Engr Taiwo Oludotun, gave the order during a meeting with farmers, village heads and timber contractors at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Oludotun, through a release by the Press Officer, Ministry of Forestry, Luke Adebesin, on Wednesday, accused the 17 communities of encroaching on the buffer zones of the forest reserve.

According to the Commissioner, “the 17 communities are: Eseke, Tamitami, Bridge, Korede, Fatai, Sojukorodo, Etemi- Gerade, Onigburugburu, Erifun, Aba Alhaja, Erimogan, Ologunna, Ori Apata, Imaba, Apora, Fatai 2 and Yomi Iga”.

Oludotun pointed out that planting cocoa seedlings within the state’s forest reserves was illegal, warning that any cocoa seedlings found within the forest after the exit date would be duly sanctioned.

“The state Ministry of Forestry will not fold its arm and allow illegalities to continue within its forest reserves, any timber contractor found to be involved in cocoa plantation within the reserves, the government property hammer of such contractor will be withdrawn’’, he said.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Timothy Olatunji, had called on timber contractors to cooperate with the Ministry to put an end to “the unwholesome activities within the forest reserves.”

Also, the representatives of timber contractors, Hon. Kunle Kalejaye and Alhaja Ranti Bambi, were said to have expressed dismay at the violation of government’s directive by some miscreants, promising to complement the Ministry’s efforts in curbing the illicit act.