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Nigerians Knock Tinubu over Long Convoy in Lagos

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A video of long convoy of President Bola Tinubu as he arrived Lagos on Tuesday from his private visit to London after attending the Paris Finance Summit, has drawn reactions from Nigerians who frowned at such a show of opulence, while the masses have seen their standard of living erode as a result of the government’s newly introduced policies.

It was the first time Tinubu would be in Lagos since his inauguration as the 16th president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and expectedly, thousands of his supporters and political dignitaries, including Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu were on the ground to give him a state welcome.

However, what should have been a “quiet” arrival, quickly became a spectacle of some sort with the long motorcade that followed the president to his new private residence.

In the video that surfaced online, which was captured by a roadside admirer, multiple SUVs were seen speeding ahead and behind the president’s official car.

First, human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, in a tweet, questioned the rationale behind the long convoy when Nigerians are groaning under the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

He wrote, “Why does the president of the poverty capital of the world need to ride in a 120-car convoy and the same people remove subsidy, asking the poor to make sacrifices?”

In the same vein, another tweep, @OpeBee said such display of convoy shows the insensitivity of political office holders to hard times currently faced by Nigerians

“I feel very constrained to speak out on issues like this. Yesterday it was the speaker with 34 aides; today it’s the opulent display of convoys. You can’t ask the masses for austerity and live ostentatiously. I personally would not support any policy that further inflicts pain,” he lamented

He further declared that Nigerians will be forced to resist any further pain as a result of new policies if the government won’t cut down on waste, asking what sacrifices are they also making in this austere period.

“If the government will refuse to cut down on “these excesses”, the masses must be ready to resist any further pain that speaks insensitively to their plight. Our leaders must lead by example.

“What are the sacrifices our leaders are making or willing to make in this painful and austere period? I am listening, someone should please educate me,” he asked.

Meanwhile, in contrary reactions, some Nigerians urged others not to be hard on the president, saying not all the cars in the convoy belonged to him.

A tweep @nut_joshua argued other political dignitaries also joined in the convoy.

“Well, It’s wasteful. But I’m not sure the convoy is for him alone. The convoy of top officials that went to welcome him was probably added.

Even POTUS alone doesn’t use 120-car convoy”, he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, had praised the ‘tumultuous welcome’ in a state house press release.

Tinubu will spend the Sallah holidays in Lagos before returning to Abuja.

The Punch

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Assault: Bolt Driver Apologises to Abia Lawmaker, Loses Services of Lawyers

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Lawyers representing Mr. Stephen Abuwatseye, an Abuja-based Bolt driver who was allegedly assaulted by a member of the House of Representatives, Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, have withdrawn from his case.

The withdrawal came barely 24 hours after the driver made a volte farce by tendering an apology to his alleged assaulter who has since been docked in court by the police over his action.

Ikwechegh was arraigned after he had admitted that he manhandled the e-hailing cab driver and apologized for his unbecoming conduct.

However, in view of the recent turn of events in the matter, Abuwatseye’s lawyers said they were no longer ready to offer legal services to him.

A statement dated November 8, and signed by Zainab M. Otega of Deji Adeyanju & Partners and titled: “PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE ALLEGED ASSAULT OF MR. STEPHEN ABUWATSEYE: WITHDRAWAL OF LEGAL REPRESENTATION,” read:

“We wish to formally announce the withdrawal of our legal representation in the case involving the alleged assault of Mr. Stephen Abuwatseye.

“On October 28, 2024, Mr. Stephen Abuwatseye walked into our law firm, visibly distressed, and sought redress over an alleged assault. Following his complaint, and having verified his claim, we took steps to protect Mr. Stephen Abuwatseye’s rights, on pro bono basis, culminating in the arraignment of the alleged assaulter.

“However, in view of recent developments and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to withdraw our legal representation in other to protect our professional integrity and maintain the highest ethical standard in the legal profession.

“We wish Mr. Stephen Abuwatseye the very best, while we assure the general public of our continuous commitment towards protecting the rights of the oppressed and indigent members of the society.”

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Again, National Grid Collapses, Second Time in Three Days

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The national power grid has collapsed for the second time in three days, leading to blackouts in several parts of the country.

A check on the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts at 11:30 am, affecting all 22 generation companies across the country.

Several electricity distribution companies corroborated this on their social media platforms.

“Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07 November 2024 at 11:29Hrs affecting supply within our network,” the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) serving parts of Lagos wrote on X.

“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders.
Kindly bear with us.

Meanwhile, Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have jerked up metre prices, a few months after a similar increase.

The new price regime became effective on November 5, 2024, according to posts on social media platforms of the various DisCos.

With the recent move, the price of a single-phase metre has jumped from around N117,000 to about N149,800. This is dependent on the DisCo and the metre vendor.

A check by Channels Television indicated that the Eko DisCo put the price of its single-phase metre between N135,987.5 and N161,035 and pegged that of a three-phase meter between N226,600 and N266,600.

On its part, the Ibadan DisCo told its customers to pay from a range of N130,998 and N142,548 for a single-phase metre and N226,556.25 – N232,008 for a three-phase metre.

The Abuja DisCo said the price range for a single-phase metre is from N123,130.53–N147,812.5 and N206,345.65–N236,500 for three-phase metres.

Similarly, the Kano Electricity Distribution put N127,925–N129,999 as the price range for a single-phase metre while three-phase metres cost between N223,793–N235,425.

The Kaduna DisCo put its price for a single-phase metre between N131,150 and N142,548.94 and N220,375—N232,008.04 for three-phase metres.

This recent move came months after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced the deregulation of metre prices under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme for end-user customers.

It said this is to address the protracted issues around metre supply and pricing within the sector.

With the development, DisCos and metre vendors can now fix prices based on the economic realities in the country, helping investors recover their money and ensuring the availability of the metres.

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Tax Reforms: Ndume Mocks Tinubu, Says Bill Dead on Arrival

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The Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly (NASS), Ali Ndume, has declared that the tax reform bills sent to the legislative arm of government by President Bola Tinubu are dead on arrival.

Ndume argued that the President should listen to the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Northern Governors’ Forum and immediately withdraw the bills.

“If it goes on like that, I can tell you that it will be dead on arrival. We don’t need to study the bills,” the unsparingly blunt lawmaker said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.

Ndume, one of the longest serving lawmakers in the National Assembly, said the Federal government should be looking at ways to reduce the tax burden on Nigerians and not increase it.

“The general thing is that Nigerians are not willing to talk about or pay any tax now considering the (economic) situation we are in now,” he said.

“Nigerians are willing to pay taxes but they can only pay taxes when they can afford it. Right now, people are struggling to survive. Let people live first before you start asking them for taxes,” he added.

The senator said: “It will be fair to shut the bill down; it is the fairest thing to do”, indicating that he has started campaigning against the bills among his colleagues and he is getting good support to throw out the bills.

Ndume, a stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),  said the Tinubu administration needs to reform itself and not increase taxes paid by Nigerians.

“What he (Tinubu) needs to do is to withdraw the bill, educate Nigerians and make us understand it. We are representing the people and the people that we are representing have already spoken.

“The governors, the traditional rulers have said that the bill is not good. So, the best thing to do is to immediately withdraw it.

“Right now, what our people are saying is that they don’t want VAT bill, they don’t even want to hear about it. That is why we are going to make it dead on arrival.”

The tax reform bills which have been sent to the National Assembly have faced scathing criticisms with the 36 state governors asking the President to withdraw the bills from the legislature.

However, the President insisted that the bills would not be withdrawn, saying that “inputs and necessary changes” can be made by the lawmakers.

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