The introduction of a bill in the Nigerian House of Representatives seeking to establish the “Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal University of Nigerian Languages” is an unfortunate reminder of the National Assembly’s growing detachment from public sentiment and intellectual rigor. This ill-conceived move, spearheaded by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and his fellow backers, signals a blatant disregard for both the needs of the Nigerian people and the integrity of the country’s higher education system.

At the heart of this bill is the alarming question: what exactly qualifies President Bola Tinubu for such an honor? Naming an institution after an individual is typically reserved for those who have made extraordinary contributions in the relevant field. In this case, the proposed university is meant to promote the study of Nigeria’s indigenous languages and cultures. Tinubu, however, is neither a polyglot in local languages nor a cultural figure of note. He is not known for championing the preservation or promotion of Nigeria’s linguistic heritage. The choice to name this university after him smacks of opportunism and serves as a troubling example of how far the legislative branch is willing to go to foster a dangerous cult of personality around the president.

This bill comes at a time when existing universities across Nigeria are underfunded and struggling. The proliferation of new federal universities has been driven by the shallow ambitions of legislators seeking “federal presence” in their constituencies, without consideration for whether these institutions can actually function effectively. Instead of tackling the structural issues that plague Nigerian universities—poor funding, inadequate facilities, and brain drain—the National Assembly seems more interested in hollow gestures that flatter the executive branch. The establishment of yet another university, under the guise of honoring a president who has barely spent 17 months in office, is an affront to reason and a gross misallocation of resources.

Worse still is the symbolism behind the bill. It is not enough that Tinubu is the president—he must also be immortalized with a university dedicated to preserving Nigerian languages, an area where he has no notable expertise or accomplishments. What this bill truly reflects is the legislative branch’s eagerness to curry favor with the president, to the point of undermining the very principles of merit and intellectual achievement that should define the country’s academic institutions.

Let us be clear: if a university must be established in honor of President Tinubu, it should reflect his real contributions. Perhaps a university devoted to the study of “winning elections the Nigerian way” would be more fitting. After all, Tinubu has distinguished himself in the fine art of political maneuvering, electoral gymnastics, result sheet calligraphy, and advanced studies in “go-to-court” triumphalism. At least then we'd be acknowledging his true legacy.

The Nigerian people deserve better from their legislators. Rather than elevating individuals with hollow honors, the legislators should be focusing on tangible improvements in education, healthcare, and the economy—areas where Nigeria is in dire need of reform. The fact that such a bill even passed the first reading in the House of Representatives speaks volumes about the intellectual poverty that currently pervades the National Assembly. It is a disheartening reminder that, for too many of the lawmakers, sycophancy trumps service.

In an era where Nigeria is grappling with unprecedented economic challenges, widespread hunger, and policy failures, the last thing the country needs is another vanity project that serves no purpose other than to inflate the ego of the ruling class. If the National Assembly truly cared about honoring contributions to Nigerian society, they would focus their energies on meaningful reforms, not on perpetuating a cult of personality that further alienates them from the people they claim to represent.

Let this bill die the death it deserves!

The national electricity grid collapsed on Monday, leading to a nationwide blackout.

According to a statement on X by Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), the national grid collapsed at 6:58pm.

AEDC said a system failure at the national grid affected the power supply from its franchise area.

“Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 6:58pm today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas,” the company said.

“Rest assured, we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised. Thank you for your understanding.”

Also, in a statement by Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Emeka Ezeh, head of corporate communications, said the company is unable to provide power to its customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a general system collapse that occurred at 18:48 hours today, 14th October, 2024,” Ezeh said.

“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across EEDC network.

“Consequently, due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.

“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo.”

‘WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO RESTORE POWER’

On its part, Eko ElectricityDistributionCompany (EKEDC) also said the company is working with stakeholders to restore.

“Kindly be informed there was a system collapse at 18:48hrs which has resulted to a loss of power supply across our network,” EKEDC said.

“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as power supply is restored.”

The national electricity grid has collapsed six times in 2024.

On August 5, various distribution companies (DisCos) said their feeders became inactive, resulting in widespread blackouts across the country.

Similarly, Nigeria recorded the fourth system failure at the national grid on July 6.

Also, the national grid collapsed on April 15, March 28 and February 4.

On May 1, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the number of system collapses has declined by 76.47 percent in five years.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s spokesperson, said the country recorded 20 system collapses from 2020 till May 1, compared to the 85 grid disturbances between 2015 to 2019.

TCN said it had deployed a digital system called generation dip/loss detection system (GLDS) to swiftly detect and respond to sudden drops in power generation.

The Cable

Oil prices slid 3% in early Asian trade on Tuesday after a media report said Israel is willing not to strike Iranian oil targets, which eased fears of a supply disruption, and after OPEC lowered its outlook for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025.

Both benchmarks plunged 3% in early trade on Tuesday, following a 2% drop on Monday. Brent crude futures were down $2.27 at $75.19 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell $2.22 to $71.60 per barrel as of 0127 GMT.

Prices have fallen about $4 this week, nearly wiping out cumulative gains made in the seven sessions up to last Friday when investors were concerned about supply risks as Israel planned to retaliate against a missile attack from Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the U.S. that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil ones, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

OPEC on Monday cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and also lowered its projection for next year.

"This is the third straight monthly downgrade, suggesting its previously optimistic forecasts have further to retreat," analysts at ANZ Research said in a note on Tuesday.

"It (Iraq) is still not making any progress in the extra cuts it promised to compensate for over production," ANZ said.

Also weighing on prices was a decline in crude shipments to the world's largest oil importer China for the first nine months of the year, with data showing imports fell nearly 3% from last year.

China accounted for the bulk of the 2024 downgrade by OPEC, as it trimmed its growth forecast for the country to 580,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 650,000 bpd.

Deflationary pressures in China worsened in September, according to official data released on Saturday. A press conference the same day left investors guessing about the overall size of a stimulus package to revive the fortunes of the world's second-largest economy.

Reuters

Nigerian independent producer Belemaoil Producing has resumed operations at its oil block Oil Mining Lease 55 after a three-year shutdown as a result of damage to the facility caused by theft, it said on Monday.

Belemaoil acquired OML 55, located about 40 km west of the Bonny oil export terminal in a swamp to shallow water area, from Chevron Corp in February 2015.

Operations at OML 55 were halted in 2021 due to rampant oil theft from its delivery line to the Bonny terminal, a Belemaoil spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the company, the block contains five oilfields that produce about 14,000 barrels per day and more than 70 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The arrival of the first floating oil storage vessel at OML 55 on Oct. 6 marked "a major milestone in the company's efforts to restart production", the spokesperson said.

Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, is trying to boost crude output which has fallen in recent years due to large-scale theft and sabotage that have forced oil majors to exit onshore drilling to focus on deepwater production.

Reuters

Israeli strike in northern Lebanon kills at least 21 people

An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment and the target was not clear. The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito, which is part of the country’s Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east.

Rescue workers in Aito searched through the rubble of the building as ambulances stood by to receive the bodies of victims. Nearby buildings and cars were damaged in the strike.

The strike came a day after a Hezbollah drone attack on an army basein northern Israel killed four soldiers — all of them 19 years old — and severely wounded seven others in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the army base and soldiers wounded in the attack, vowing “we will continue to strike Hezbollah without compassion in every part of Lebanon, including in Beirut.”

Sixty-one people were wounded in Sunday’s attack. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel over the past year, killing more than 60 people, although Israel says most have been intercepted by its air defense systems or hit open areas.

In Lebanon, some 2,300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since last October, according to the country’s Health Ministry. More than three-quarters of the deaths occurred in the past month.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has vowed to keep up its attacks on Israel until there is a cease-fire in Gaza. Israel has said its campaign against Hezbollah is aimed at stopping those attacks so displaced Israelis can feel safe returning to their homes near the Lebanese border.

A strike and an inferno in a Gaza hospital courtyard

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in the Gaza Strip killed at least four people and triggered a fire that swept through a tent camp for people displaced by the war, leaving more than two dozen with severe burns.

The Israeli military said the strike in Gaza targeted militants hiding among civilians, without providing evidence. In recent months it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent camps, alleging that Hamas fighters were using them as staging grounds for attacks.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah was already struggling to treat a large number of wounded from an earlier strike on a school-turned-shelter that killed at least 20 people when the early morning airstrike hit and fire engulfed many of the tents.

Several secondary explosions could be heard after the initial strike, but it was not immediately clear if they were caused by weapons or fuel tanks.

Hospital records showed that four people were killed and 40 wounded. Twenty-five people were transferred to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza after suffering severe burns, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The Biden administration called the strike on Al Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital “deeply disturbing” and said it has expressed concerns about it to the Israeli government.

“Israel has a responsibility to do more to avoid civilian casualties — and what happened here is horrifying, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields,” the White House National Security Council said in a statement.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, while Palestinian militants abducted around 250 hostages. Around 100 are still being held inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters but says women and children make up more than half the fatalities. Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced by the war, often multiple times, and large areas of the coastal territory have been completely destroyed.

Israeli rights groups warn of forced transfer in northern Gaza

Israel has ordered the entire remaining population of the northern third of Gaza, estimated at around 400,000 people, to evacuate to the south and has not allowed any food to enter the north since the start of the month. Hundreds of thousands of people from the north heeded Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war and have not been allowed to return.

That has raised fears among Palestinians that Israel intends to implement a plan devised by former generals in which it would order all civilians out of northern Gaza and label anyone remaining there a combatant — a surrender-or-starve strategy that rights groups say would violate international law.

The plan has been presented to the Israeli government, but it’s unclear whether it has been adopted. The military says it has not received such orders.

Israeli rights groups on Monday called on the international community to prevent Israel from carrying out the plan, saying there are “alarming signs” that Israel is beginning to implement it.

The statement, signed by B’Tselem, Gisha, Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, warned that states “have an obligation to prevent the crimes of starvation and forcible transfer.”

On Monday, the Israeli military said it allowed 30 trucks carrying flour and food into north Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said the trucks entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine holds new online conference on peace, calls for revised security system

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff called on Monday for a new international security system to preclude future instances of armed aggression, as he addressed an online conference on securing peace following Russia's invasion.

Andriy Yermak said 66 countries and international organisations had taken part in the conference, devoted to one point of the president's peace plan on ending the more than 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia. The discussions focused on future instances of escalation and aggression.

Zelenskiy planned to present to parliament this week a "victory plan" - a follow-up to the peace plan he drew up in late 2022 calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's 1991 borders.

That plan formed the basis of a "peace summit" held in Switzerland in June.

Yermak, writing on Zelenskiy's website, said existing security systems "had been unable to propose active means to rule out Russian aggression" and its world-wide consequences.

"We need a renewed security architecture based on international law and the strengthening of Ukraine's own defence capabilities," he wrote. "This system should cover not only a military component, but also sanctions, financial support, investments and broad cooperation in various fields."

Yermak did not say which countries took part in the conference, one of a series in preparation for world-wide summits and intended to draw support from countries in the Global South, particularly Africa and Asia.

Zelenskiy has said he wants to hold a new "world summit" before the end of 2024. Russia was uninvited to the Swiss gathering, dismissed its discussions as irrelevant and said it would attend no such meeting in the future.

Zelenskiy discussed his victory plan last week with leaders of Ukraine's European allies and pressed for permission to use Western long-range weapons against Russian targets.

Few details of the plan have been disclosed. Zelenskiy says it seeks to strengthen Ukraine "both geopolitically and on the battlefield" before any kind of dialogue with Russia.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine’s battlefield situation ‘critical’ – ex-NATO official

Ukraine will soon have to abandon the key Donbass city of Pokrovsk as its defenses slowly crumble under Russian attacks, General Harald Kujat, a former chief of staff of the German armed forces and chairman of the NATO Military Committee, believes.

In an interview with journalist and podcaster Flavio von Witzleben on Sunday, Kujat, who chaired the NATO Military Committee between 2002 and 2005, suggested that Ukraine’s plan to divert Russian units away from Donbass via its Kursk incursion has failed because Russia has not had to curtail its offensive in the region.

“Ukraine originally intended… that the Russians would pull combat troops back [to Kursk Region], but this has now turned out to be to its own detriment because the Russians are now tying up the urgently needed Ukrainian reserves that are now missing in Donbass,” he said, describing the Kursk offensive as an “all-in action.” 

As a result, Russia is slowly advancing in Donbass at a pace consistent with the desire to minimize losses, Kujat believes. Russia has made gains near Pokrovsk, Kujat noted, describing the city, located some 50km northwest of Donetsk, as “of crucial importance” due to its logistical significance.

“Ukraine is still holding its position but it is only a matter of time before this city falls… The situation of the Ukrainian armed forces is critical and it is becoming more and more critical day by day and this is despite the massive material and financial support from the West,” he said.

In light of this, the conflict is on a “downward trend” for Ukraine, Kujat said, adding that this trajectory has clearly accelerated. “If there is no political agreement… there Ukraine will suffer a military defeat,”the general projected.

As fighting rages on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly described the situation there as “difficult.” Several Western media outlets have also warned that the loss of Pokrovsk will not only hamper the Ukrainian military’s logistics in Donbass, but will also deal a severe blow to the country’s economy, as the area serves as a key source of coal for its steel and iron industries.

The Russian military has been making gains in Donbass in recent weeks, liberating dozens of settlements, including the key stronghold of Ugledar in the southern section of the front.

Both Donetsk and Lugansk Regions in Donbass overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in referendums in the autumn of 2022, along with two other former Ukrainian territories.

Reuters/RT

Multilateralism has fallen on hard times lately, especially at the United Nations. The UN Security Council couldn’t stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon remain elusive, and subsequent COP summits have failed to spur enough concrete action to meet global climate targets. Not only are the UN’s own Sustainable Development Goals off-track; in many cases, progress toward meeting them has reversed. The UN’s foundational commitments to peace, security, and cooperation feel very foreign at a time when multiple wars are raging, protectionism is on the rise, and the world is splitting into rival blocs.

But despite this geopolitical recession, global cooperation is still possible. The UN General Assembly’s first Summit of the Future on September 22-23 tested the organization’s ability to tackle one of the world’s biggest transnational challenges: artificial intelligence. Surprising as it may be, the UN passed.

It is no exaggeration to say that AI has spurred one of the fastest and most robust policy responses in living memory. Barely a year ago, UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited representatives from government, the private sector, and civil society to recommend how the world might govern AI in the service of humanity. He knew that the world’s ambition to govern AI could fall flat, much like the initial response to climate change. The existing approaches were already too fragmented, and most left out the Global South, with 118 countries party to no AI governance framework at all.

Together, we served as rapporteurs for the secretary-general’s High-Level Advisory Body on AI, which was established to meet this worthy challenge. Reflecting the world’s diversity, its 39 members came from every continent, and included representatives from government, academia, civil society, and the technology industry.

This was the first genuinely global effort to govern AI, and we are pleased that several of our recommendations were taken up in the Global Digital Compact, a comprehensive governance framework that UN member states adopted last month. Reaching this new agreement required overcoming all the very real differences that separate the United States, China, Europe, and the Global South, as well as governments and the private sector (especially technology companies).

For example, one of our recommendations – which has been approved in principle for implementation – is to establish an International Scientific Panel on AI. We started from the premise that to govern an issue as complex as AI, we should have a common understanding of the technology and its potential risks and effects across countries and cultures.

We learned this lesson the hard way from climate change. While many now debate how to address the climate crisis, there is no serious debate over whether we should address it; the evidence provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is overwhelming. A similar intergovernmental panel on AI would undertake the difficult but fundamental work of analyzing the ongoing developments in AI technology, thereby giving policymakers a factual, independent foundation to inform debates, goals, and policy decisions.

But what we are most enthusiastic about is the prospect of ensuring that AI benefits everyone. Unlike climate change – where there are zero-sum politics and serious short-term trade-offs between lowering emissions, fostering economic growth, and achieving equity (with powerful vested interests that oppose a post-carbon transition) – AI is the rare transnational issue with positive-sum solutions. If shared safely and made to respect international law and fundamental freedoms, AI should not pose an existential threat to incumbent governments and companies. Instead, it should catalyze win-win opportunities.

There is tremendous demand for technologies like AI, as well as excitement over its potential to help us meet all sorts of objectives, including those enshrined in the SDGs. From public health and education to economic growth and climate mitigation, AI can be a game-changing technology. But without the infrastructure and mechanisms to oversee its transformative growth, it could drive further global divergence, with the poorest and most vulnerable populations once again being left behind. We are determined to prevent that.

That is why, in addition to forming a common knowledge base, we have recommended initiatives that enhance all countries’ and communities’ access to AI. From talent and standards to data and funding, the UN and its partners can help address gaps in resources and infrastructure to ensure that no one is left behind from the AI revolution.

Of course, there are some who question the UN’s role in governing AI, and governance must take place at the nation-state level as well. The companies developing AI models also are creating standards. But like the internet before it, AI’s potential makes it a global public good (as is AI safety). The UN is the only truly global body with the legitimacy to convene the world’s governments and AI stakeholders, and the ability to guarantee any resulting agreements. That starts with getting the world on the same page – not to compel governance, but to align around the nature and scale of the opportunity and challenges. With the right vision, tools, and political leadership, we can deploy the resources to ensure that AI lives up to its promise.

From climate change and public health to nuclear proliferation, the world has turned to the UN to solve its most complex problems. Armed conflict, humanitarian disasters, environmental crises, and economic woes highlight the international community’s frequent failure to rise to the challenges the world faces. But as we grapple with our most revolutionary and potentially disruptive technology yet, the Global Digital Compactproves that there is still hope for multilateralism in a geopolitically fragmented world.

Project Syndicate

The best employees Mark Cuban has hired aren’t the ones with unwavering confidence or sharp business acumen.

A different trait sets high achievers apart, according to the billionaire entrepreneur and investor: They’re problem-solvers. 

“For me, the number one thing is you reduce stress rather than create it,” Cuban, 66, told CNBC Make It at an event announcing his AI partnershipwith Google. “There’s a lot of people that are just a whirlwind and everything seems to be difficult, causing a lot of unnecessary stress.”

As an employee, Cuban explained, the best soft skill you can develop is the ability to “analyze a situation, find a solution and not make a big deal of it.” 

Cuban’s desire for a less stressful work environment isn’t unfounded. Research has shown that stress seriously impacts productivity and job performance, and it’s estimated to cost American businesses more than $300 billion every year. 

With all this in mind, Cuban said, “the greatest value you can offer a boss is to reduce their stress.”

Stress at work is inevitable — but embracing it can help you become stronger, smarter and happier, Kandi Wiens, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master’s in Medical Education program, tells CNBC Make It.

Research has shown that people who hold a positive stress mindset, which means stress is a challenge to be embraced, are more productive, focus better, feel more motivated at their jobs and are less likely to consider new work opportunities due to stress.

To win over your boss, Wiens suggests the following: Meet deadlines ahead of time and lend an empathic ear during difficult times. 

“Keeping your commitments and being a good listener are simple strategies to build your boss’s trust and confidence in you,” says Wiens. “It’ll also just make their life — and yours — easier.”

CNBC

In a recent statement that can only be described as detached from reality, Mrs. Remi Tinubu, wife of Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, claimed that her husband is not responsible for the current economic hardship gripping the nation. This assertion is not only misleading but also demonstrates a dangerous lack of accountability at the highest levels of government.

Let's be clear: President Tinubu's policies have undeniably exacerbated Nigeria's economic woes. Since taking office:

1. The Naira has plummeted from N465/$ to N1,700/$, a devastating 70% devaluation.

2. Petrol prices have skyrocketed from N187/litre to above N1,000/litre.

3. Inflation has surged from 22.4% to 32.15%.

4. 13,346 Nigerians have been killed and 9,207 abducted, highlighting a severe security crisis.

These are not mere coincidences but direct consequences of the administration's economic policies and governance approach.

Mrs. Tinubu's attempt to shift blame away from her husband is particularly galling given the Tinubus' well-documented support for the previous administration. Both she and President Tinubu boasted repeatedly about their role in bringing the Buhari government to power and sustaining it in office. Tinubu himself promised on the campaign trail to continue his predecessor's policies. The current administration cannot now conveniently distance itself from the economic mess it helped create and promised to perpetuate.

Mrs. Tinubu's assertion that Nigeria will be "greater" in two years rings hollow in the face of the current economic data and trends. Our analysis shows that without a dramatic shift in economic policy, the situation is likely to worsen, not improve. The removal of fuel subsidies was implemented without adequate safeguards for the most vulnerable Nigerians. The floating of the Naira has led to its freefall rather than the promised stability and investment influx.

Instead of making excuses, the Tinubu administration needs to acknowledge its role in the current crisis and take immediate, concrete steps to address it. This includes:

1. Implementing targeted economic reforms to stabilize the Naira and control inflation.

2. Addressing the root causes of insecurity, which is hampering economic growth and investment.

3. Developing a comprehensive strategy to combat poverty and hunger, which have reached alarming levels.

4. Improving transparency and accountability in government to rebuild public trust. Details of suggested solutions are found here: https://dsh.re/fd27b6

Mrs. Tinubu's comments are a disservice to the millions of Nigerians struggling under the weight of the consequences of her husband’s economic policies. The Nigerian people deserve leaders who take responsibility for their actions and decisions, not those who deflect blame when faced with the consequences of their actions or inaction. It's time for the Tinubu administration to face reality, own up to its mistakes, and work tirelessly to right the ship of state. The future of Nigeria depends on it.

The national assembly is considering a bill proposing an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) from 7.5 percent to 10 percent.

VAT refers to a consumption tax on goods and services levied at each stage of the supply chain where value is added.

In the executive bill (that’s from the president) seen by TheCable on Sunday, the national assembly is seeking to raise the tax rate to 10 percent by 2025.

The legislature also intends to increase the VAT to 12.5 percent by 2026 through 2029, according to the document.

“VAT shall be charged on the value of all taxable supplies at the following rates (a) 2025 year of assessment 10%; (b) 2026, 2027 2028 and 2029 years of assessment 12.5% (c) 2030 year of assessment and thereafter 15%,” the document reads.

On May 8, Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, had said the VAT rate needs to be increased.

Reacting to the recommendation on September 8, Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president criticised the proposed VAT hike, describing it as a “regressive and punitive policy”.

However, Wale Edun, minister of finance, on September 9, said the VAT rate has been unchanged.

In February 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had advised the federal government to raise the VAT rate to at least 10 percent by 2022.

CIT TO BE REDUCED TO 27.5% BY 2025

Meanwhile, the bill also proposes a reduction in the corporate income tax (CIT) to 27.5 percent by 2025 — down from 30 percent — and a further cut to 25 percent by 2026.

Companies with less than N20 million turnover are exempted from paying the CIT, according to the bill.

“Tax shall be levied, for each year of assessment in respect of total profits of every company, in the case of; (a) a small company, at zero percent; and (b) any other company, at the rate of-(i) 27.5% in 2025 year of assessment, and(ii) 25% from 2026 year of assessment,” the document added.

“Notwithstanding any provision of this Act or any other enactment, where, in any year of assessment, the effective tax rate of a company is less than 15%, such company shall recompute and pay an additional tax that makes its effective tax rate equal to 15%.

“The provisions of this section shall apply to (a) a company that is a constituent entity of an MNE group; and (b) any other company with an aggregate turnover of N20,000,000,000.00 and above in the relevant year of assessment.

“The companies covered under this section and the determination of the additional tax payable shall be in accordance with regulations issued by the Service.”

On June 4, Oyedele had said the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms proposed a reduction of the CIT by 5 percent.

He said the tax rate should drop from 30 percent to 25 percent to encourage businesses and investors.

Earlier this month, the federal government released the gazetted withholding tax regulations expected to take effect from January 1, 2025.

The Cable