Vice President Kashim Shettima has justified the tax reforms of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying they are meant to benefit Nigerians and not frustrate the economy.

The Vice President, according to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, stated this at the close-out retreat of the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee on Saturday in Abuja.

Represented at the event by the Special Adviser on General Duties in the Office of the Vice President, Shettima said the dynamics of the nation’s fiscal landscape prompted the Tinubu administration to pause and reconsider the direction Nigeria was headed.

He said: “Our aim remains the revitalisation of revenue generation in Nigeria while sustaining an investment-friendly and globally competitive business environment.”

He expressed confidence in the tax reforms committee’s ability to execute its mandate, noting the significant shift from planning to implementation.

The Vice President said the federal and state governments are ready to facilitate the effective execution of the committee’s reforms.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to providing the institutional support needed to integrate these proposals with the administration’s broader economic strategy.

Minister of the Capital Territory (FCT) and immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has regretted supporting Governor Siminalayi Fubara to become his successor, with a vow to correct the mistake at the appropriate time.

The FCT Minister, who spoke on Saturday during a reception held in Port Harcourt in honour of Chief George Thompson Sekibo to celebrate his 20 years of service at the national and 36 years in public service, said he made mistakes in his judgment of Fubara and asked the people of the state and political family to forgive him, promising that he would correct the mistake at the right time.

“I want to say this clearly, in life we have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. I own it up and I say God forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me,” Wike said.

“But we will correct it at the appropriate time. I am a human; I am bound to make a mistake. So forgive me for making a wrong judgment. So nobody should kill.”

Reacting to some developments and actions from the camp of Fubara in the ongoing political crisis in the State, Wike said the governor’s actions so far have shown he is not to be trusted.

“If they like they can go to anybody by 2am or 4am to get injunction. The law will take its course. We must follow due process,” Wike said.

Taking a swipe at Fubara’s recent remarks that he would not worship anybody, Wike said he had never asked anybody to worship him.

“It is not easy to be a public officer and the people decide to honour you. Let me thank the Ogu council of chiefs and the entire community who insisted that their son should be honoured.

“You have refused politics to divide you. It shows that you have the interest of your community in mind. I came because I respect people, who appreciate what God has used people to do for them.

“God uses people to help others. So when you have been helped, you appreciate them. God will know you have appreciated him. Nobody can worship man. All of us believe that it is only God we will worship.

“As politicians we appreciate people who have helped us. When I came to ask you to support me, you supported me. Did I worship you? Did I ask you to worship me? If you had not supported me, I would not have been where I am. Did you tell me to worship you? So where does the issue of worship come from?

“It is not easy to be in power and begin to give excuses. You continue to run away from promises you made to people. Look at all the council chairmen, the assembly members; these were people I spoke to for the interest of all of us.

“They all responded but today somebody said they are nobody. Will you accept that? Assembly people sat down in their various constituencies. You never brought a dime. I never knew you were rich that your father was a managing director of shell before and now you are paying their school fees. It is unfortunate.”

Wike also told the embattled state lawmakers not to be afraid as nobody would remove them as assembly members.

“Don’t be afraid nobody will remove you as a lawmaker. Most of you don’t understand. This is our work. Our business is to make them to fear.

“That is what I am doing. We will make them to be angry everyday and they will continue to make mistakes,” he said.

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has empathized with job seekers in the state, listing several measures his administration is pursuing to address the challenge.

The State Governor who was represented by the Head of Service, Elder Ayanleye Aina made the remarks at the Careers and Employment Opportunity Fair organised by the Ministry of Political Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations in collaboration with Federal Agencies domiciled in Osun State, according to a statement signed by the spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.

Associating with the mass of job seekers in Osun State, Governor Adeleke said the job fair is one of the many initiatives of his administration to open up the job market, create enabling environment and ensure the engagement of thousands of our unemployed youth.

While commending huge Federal presence in Osun State, Governor Adeleke noted wide opportunities existing for job seekers through appropriate liason with such agencies and their partners.

The Governor however said his government is doing more to address the unemployment crisis.

The Governor speaks further: “As a Government we are determined to address the unemployment question through multiple approach. The Job fair Is only a starting point to exploit opportunities across federal establishments domiciled In the state. Job fairs are potent platforms but our government is doing more than that.

“Part of our employment agenda is to deepen the state economy by encouraging agro-industrial activities among the young and the old. Diversifying the economic base of the state possesses the potential to meaningfully engage our youth.

“Additionally, we are pursuing the localisation agenda in our project implementation. This policy is building the capacity of local contractors and local business to employ more Indigenes in the construction industry.

“Localisation not only strengthen local economy, it imparts technical skill in the local population which increases the employability of our population.

“Our administration is also reviving the technical vocational technical colleges across the State. The focus is to expose our youth population to technical skills to enable them offer services for self-employment.

“The public is also aware of our cooperative loan scheme which is targeting local SMEs. About Four Billion Naira is billed to be disbursed. A strong SMEs increases the capacity of small business to employ more job seekers.

“More importantly, our government is working on a programme of match making between young entrepreneurs and financial institutions. Details of this will be unveil in the upcoming series named ” Engagement With Osun Young Professionals”. The Policy Integration Unit in my office Is working on this particular plan”, the Governor noted in his speech

Governor Adeleke however encouraged young ones and generality of job seekers to improve their skills, both for self employment and employability adding that “we must move beyond our paper qualifications to skill acquisition.”

Earlier in his address , the Commissioner for Political Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations pledged to follow up on the job fair to tap into available opportunities for Osun youth.