Akume
Minister: Nigerian government to establish micro enterprises in 774 local council areas
Dr George Akume, the Minister of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Affairs, on Wednesday said that micro enterprises will be established in the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the country. The Minister disclosed this in Abuja at the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) General Assembly with the Theme: Strategic Positioning for the Future: A New Era. “As a ministry, we have proposed the establishment of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in the 774 local governments in Nigeria based on economic corridors. “We believe that this will create jobs and ensure improvement in the well-being of the local populace,’’Akume said. The minister, who was represented by Mr Simon Tyungu, Deputy Director, Office of the Minister, said that the establishment of the micro enterprise wa...
Activist asks court to compel Kano, others to refund VAT generated from alcohol
An Abuja-based activist, Sesugh Akume, has filed a suit before a Federal High Court in the nation’s capital, asking it to compel states that outlawed the sale of alcohol to refund the sums received through Value Added Tax imposed on alcoholic beverages. About 12 states practise Sharia law in Nigeria. They are Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Zamfara and Niger. Based on Sharia law, some of the states prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages and usually hold public events where bottles of alcoholic drinks are destroyed while gambling is also illegal. However, all the states receive VAT collected from alcoholic beverages sold in other states that permit the sale of the product. In an originating motion brought pursuant to Section 1(3), 4(5), 162(3), (4...
Subsidy removal: Nigerian government sets up modalities to disburse 2,000 buses
The Federal Government on Monday in Abuja has set up modalities for the disbursement of 2, 000 buses to cushion effects of subsidy removal. Dr George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs in his speech at Inter-Ministerial Stakeholders meeting on Poverty Alleviation, said the initiative was also part of programme to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. Akume said the initiative was in collaboration between his ministry, Agriculture and other government agencies saying the disbursement of the buses would be through cooperative societies of Nigeria. He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari in his 2019 democracy speech, promised to lift 100 Nigerians out of poverty through numerous governments` initiatives. “The alleviation of poverty in Nigeria has been and...
Man jailed five years for trafficking 18-year-old girl to Libya for prostitution
Twitter A 66-year-old man was on Thursday sentenced to five years imprisonment by a Federal High Court, Makurdi, Benue State, for trafficking an 18-year-old lady to Mali for forced labour and prostitution. The man, Lawrence Ogonna, was said to have connived with some other people who are currently at large to trafficked the said teenager from Makurdi to the North African country. Justice Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court found the man guilty of a three-count charge of organising foreign travels for prostitution and assisting to traffic the victims contrary to sections 18 and 13(4)(c) of Trafficking in Perons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015. He was dragged to the court by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. He, however, got an opt...
