Author: Lawbreed Limited

AS part of efforts to ensure ease of doing business in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR has signed the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill 2022 into law. Presented as an Executive Bill, the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Act, 2023 is a legislative intervention by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, which amends 21 business-related laws, removing bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria. The Business Facilitation Act, 2023 consolidates the last seven years of PEBEC-led reforms and demonstrates the Administration’s sustained commitment towards making Nigeria a progressively easier place to start and grow a business. The new law also…

The United States government yesterday said it was not supporting any candidate or political party in the February 25 and March 11th elections in Nigeria. The US Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Africa Affairs, Molly Phee, stated this yesterday, when she paid visit to the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja. She said the concern of the US as an advanced democracy was to encourage a successful election that would be free, fair and peaceful. Phee stated: “Since 1999, Nigeria has been moving up in solidifying and consolidating its democratic trajectory. And now, under…

Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha has inaugurated the Presidential Transition Council, describing it as a demonstration of the administration’s key commitment to strengthening key governance institutions that support the democratic process. President Muhammadu Buhari had on February 7 signed Executive Order No. 14 of 2023 on the Facilitation and Management of Presidential Transitions which provides the legal framework for a seamless transition of power from one administration to another. Mustapha noted that although the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria sets out the overarching framework for the assumption of office of the President,…

The Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed Tuesday February 14 for hearing on the bail application filed by Ali Bello and 3 others on an alleged N3 billion fraud charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC. On February 8, 2023, Justice Obiora Egwuatu adjourned for hearing on the bail application filed by the defendants after they had pleaded not guilty to the 18-count charge. Meanwhile, Governor Yahaya Bello’s wife, Mrs. Rasheedat Bello, was not a defendant in the matter as against the EFCC press release of last Sunday. At Mondays sitting however, Counsel to the…

The Benin- South South Zone of the Tax Appeal Tribunal has ordered Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to pay the Federal Inland Revenue Service the Sum of N20,338,795,939.00 (Twenty Billion, Three Hundred & Thirty-Eight Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirty-Nine Naira only) liquidated tax liability. The Panel led by Obehi Odiase-Alegimenlen held that the Federal Inland Revenue Service has proved its case in line with the Summary Appeal Procedure. From facts, the Appellant- Federal Inland Revenue Service had notified the NDDC of tax liability of N28,798,494,924.29k (Twenty Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Eight Million, Four Hundred and…

United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, says her country has no preferred candidate in Nigeria’s general election. Ms Phee stated this when she visited the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu in his office on Monday in Abuja. She expressed confidence that the general election would be hitch-free and successful. “Democracies are exciting experiments in human governance. It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, whether you live in a city or the countryside, what your religion is, what your nationality is. “Every single vote counts and Nigerians should have confidence in their…

Gunmen on Sunday night burnt the Oguta High Court located in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State. It was gathered that the attackers arrived around 11.30pm and attacked the facility, which is located inside the local government headquarters. A source, who doesn’t want his name to be mentioned for security reasons, told newsmen that the Magistrate’s Court Registry, Appeal Court Record Office, File Room, Secretary to the High Court Judge’s office, office of the High Court bailiff, the chamber of the High Court judge were burnt. The source said, “The Magistrate Court Registry, Appeal Court Record Office, File…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that all funds required to conduct the 2023 elections have been sent to the Commission and allayed fears that it was having financial constraints. The INEC Kaduna State Admin Secretary, Auwal Mashi, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting and training of members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ) on the workings of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). “Let me use this opportunity to tell you that, all funds for the execution of the general election have been sent to us. Everything that is required in term of financing…

Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has said that the introduction of naira redesign policy by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduced significantly the rate of kidnappings in the country. The AGF, in an interview with Radio Nigeria Kaduna, said there were positive sides of the policy which were not considered. A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by John Okoro had restrained the CBN from banning the use of the old naira notes – N200, N500 and N1,000 – from February 10. The apex court made the ruling in an ex parte application…

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has ordered the arrest of anyone who refuses to accept the old currency notes of two hundred, five and one thousand naira in the state. He said the old currency notes remain legal tender until the final verdict of the case instituted against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the federal government by three Northern Governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States at the supreme court. Matawalle stated this at the swearing-in ceremony of new High Court Judges and newly appointed special Advisers held at the Government House, Chamber II in Gusau, the state…