NEWS
House Of Reps To Issue Arrest On FIRS Chairman, Mammam Nami
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Mamman Nami, has ignored invitations six times, according to the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee Investigating the Structure and Accountability of the Joint Venture (JV) Business and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) of the NNPC from 1990 to date.
During the committee meeting, the Investigative Committee’s Chairman, Hon. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, insisted that the panel would use its constitutional authority to order the Inspector General of Police to detain Nami, whom they accused of collaborating with oil companies to evade paying millions of dollars’ worth of taxes.
“Federal Inland Revenue Service, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Chevron and FAMFA Oil Ltd are the four organizations expected to appear before us today. While the three oil companies are here, the Chairman of FIRS is not here to answer questions regarding the allegations of tax evasion.
“The Clerk of the House of Representatives has served the FIRS chairman the subpoena. Yet he refused to honour our invitation. We have no option than to issue warrant of arrest againt him to police in order to arrest and bring him before this investigative committee,” Fulata said.
Hon. Mark Gbila (Benue State) noted that some oil companies’ claims that they are unaware of the CAFA certificate as the basis for receiving capital allowances do not in any way excuse them from responsibility.
The committee reaffirmed that any oil companies found to have paid taxes improperly or to have improperly benefited from capital allowances will be required to pay back the money to the federation account.
According to Fulata, some oil companies that sought capital allowance as early as 1978 processed their Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Assets (CAFA) and questioned why Shell, one of the oldest oil companies, if not the oldest, completely disregarded CAFA while still receiving capital allowance.
After asking Shell representatives a series of questions under the direction of director Bashir Bello, the lawmakers instructed them to provide the committee with additional relevant documents regarding their operations before or on Monday, December 12, 2022. They are also required to appear before the investigation panel on Monday, December 19, 2022.
Additionally, Chevron and FAMFA Oil were instructed to deliver their paperwork to the secretariat by Monday, December 12, 2022. On Monday, December 19, 2022, the CEO of Chevron and FAMFA are anticipated to testify before the committee.
In what political watchers perceive as part of efforts to discomfit and scatter the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the feeling that its National Working Committee (NWC) antagonises him, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revoked the rights to occupy the land on which the party’s national secretariat, Abuja is sited.
Biztelers reports that Wike’s revocation notice was conveyed in a letter released in Abuja on Tuesday, dated March 13, 2025.
The letter was titled, “Notice of right of occupancy with file no: MISC 81346 in respect of plot no: 243 within central area district, Abuja.”
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The letter was signed by the Director, Land Administration (FTC), Chijioke Nwankwoeze.
Wike, it was gathered predicated his action on the PDP’s failure to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025.
The negligence on the part of the opposition party, the letter claimed was despite many publications in several national dailies and electronic media to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on its property.
The letter read, “I have been directed to refer to the above Right of Occupancy granted to PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT and inform you that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory has in the exercise of powers conferred on him under the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, revoked your rights, interests and privileges over Plot No. 243 within Central Area, Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja.
“The revocation is in view of your continued contravention of the terms and conditions of grant of the Right of Occupancy by failing to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from Ist of January 2006 to 1st of January 2025. This is despite the many publications made by the FCT Administration since 2023 in several national dailies and on electronic media requesting all allottees of plots in the Federal Capital Territory to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on their property.
“You would please note that the said breaches by PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (MISC 81346) run contrary to the provisions of Section 28, Subsection 5 (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.”
There are palpable fears that the PDP’s national secretariat might be demolished or vandalised, sooner than later because Wike added that the FCTA administration would take immediate possession of the party secretariat until all bills are settled.
A massive explosion has rocked the Trans-Niger Pipeline at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, sending plumes of fire and smoke into the sky.
The incident, which occurred on Monday night, has left a section of the major crude oil transport pipeline in flames, though the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown.
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Authorities have yet to determine whether the explosion was due to sabotage, equipment failure, or other factors.
However, concerns have been raised over possible human interference, particularly in light of recent threats by militant groups to attack oil infrastructure.
The threats were issued as a response to the Federal Government’s decision to withhold Rivers State’s allocation amid the ongoing political crisis in the region.
More to follow………
With the commencement of the rainy season, the Osun State Government has issued modalities for the operations of tractors across farmlands in Osun State.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Tola Faseru, according to a government house statement on Monday in Osogbo, confirmed the development.
Faseru said interested farmers should reach out to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry or the General Manager of Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSSADEC) through virtual or physical applications.
He noted that the government was subsidizing the operational rate per acre to lower the cost of farm operations, explaining further that the tractors will be domiciled at the OSSADEC farm centre located across the state.
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Faseru pointed out that some of the tractors were already in operation in some farmlands, and noted that the ministry was working to set up technical centres at designated locations for maintenance of the tractors.
He narrated further that tractor drivers are being assembled, trained and retrained for seamless operation even as he explained that the administration adopted a public private partnership approach for the management of the tractors.
“We are happy to inform the public that the tractors are out for the rainy season. We are conscious of the question of sustainability, hence the careful approach to inject private sector practices.
“In 14 or so years, this is the first time Osun is having new fleet of tractors. We have learnt from what caused the failure of the past efforts. We won’t repeat the same mistakes.
“We know we are not there yet. But Governor Adeleke has blazed the trail by procuring the first set of tractors. We innovated also because of ongoing issues at the local government level.
“We don’t want it to be managed in unsustainable manner. Hence, Mr Governor insisted the tractors be managed like a business although with public subsidy”, the Commissioner posited.
He stated that the ministry is reaching out to stakeholders among the farming community to ensure accelerated access for users within the state.
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