Top 5 Stories Of The Day | NEC Demands for Withdrawal of Tax Reform Bill

• NEC demands for withdrawal of Tax Reform Bill
• FG pleads with SSANU and NASU to curtail ongoing strike
• FG sets nine-month deadline for deposit of illegal dollar
• Bobrisky arrested by EFCC on the way to London
• NAFDAC calls the attention of Nigerians to Nivea’s ‘Black & White’ deodorant

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss.

NEC demands for withdrawal of Tax Reform Bill

The National Economic Council (NEC) has demanded that the President withdraw his Tax Reform Bill submitted to the National Assembly after having cited several faults in the bill.

The Tax Reform Bill was earlier submitted to the NASS for consideration by the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms, and though the Northern Governors Forum expressed their displeasure about the reform bill and rejected it, the National Economics Council, headed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, has also unanimously rejected the bill.

“…So Council, therefore, recommend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people, for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax reform because there’s really a lot of miscommunication, misinformation,” Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State said.

FG pleads with SSANU and NASU to curtail ongoing strike

The federal government has requested that the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) suspend their current strike which has now gone on for five days.

The government made the appeal at a meeting with the Joint Action Committee (JAC) at the Federal Ministry of Education since all administrative work at federal universities across the country has been stopped by the two unions due to the failure of the federal government to pay the withheld four months salaries of the workers.

Though the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had promised that the payments were being made by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi, refused to call off the strike until all workers started receiving their payment alerts.

FG sets nine-month deadline for deposit of illegal dollar

The federal government, through the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announced that beginning October 31, Nigerians are mandated to deposit their dollar bills held beyond the banking system.

The federal government claimed that the new initiative was to address the surging cost of goods influenced by the foreign exchange rate, pushed by demand and supply.

The minister affirmed that individuals could bring in dollars from the United States of America provided that the cash is not linked to some criminal activity.

“One element of the cost increase is the foreign exchange rate, which is demand and supply. There will be a programme starting today, October 31, and lasting nine months that will allow people to bring in cash outside the banking system,” he said.

Bobrisky arrested by EFCC on the way to London

Nigerian socialite and influencer, Bobrisky was forcefully arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a plane going from Lagos to London.

The socialite took to social media to announce that she had been arrested for the third time and she was badly injured, asking that her fans and friends all come to her aid as EFCC was brutal to her.

Bobrisky was arrested in October at the Sèmè border by the NIS after being branded as a person of interest by the EFCC in an ongoing investigation. Before that, she was also arrested in April where she was sentenced to six months in prison for naira abuse.

NAFDAC calls the attention of Nigerians to Nivea’s ‘Black & White’ deodorant

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians to beware of the usage of Nivea’s ‘Black & White 48H Protection in African Climate’ roll-on deodorant.

The Nigerian agency took to social media to disperse news of its findings regarding the product, stating that it contained “2-(4-tert-Butylbenzyl propionaldehyde (BMHCA), a chemical prohibited in cosmetics products due to its ability to cause harm to the reproductive system, impairs the health of an unborn child as well as skin irritation and burns to users.”

NAFDAC warned Nigerians to cease their purchase of the product and should exercise caution with the importation of such deadly goods.