Experts Raise Questions as Nigeria Officially Joins BRICS as Partner Country Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Nigeria has officially joined BRICS to become the ninth partner country with Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba,
Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. This is just as experts have raised concerns about what it means to be a partner country.
They have also questioned if that is the best for Nigeria’s standing globally. BRICS, an intergovernmental organisation, and originally an
acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, had expanded in 2010 to include South Africa. It subsequently accepted other countries like Egypt, Ethiopia,
Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates into its fold. The partner-country category was established at the 16th BRICS Summit held in Kazan in October
2024. During the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 Continued on page 5
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Governors Condole Bago over Death of 77 Persons in Niger Tanker Explosion… Page 5
Taiwo Oyedele: We Expect Tax Reform Bills to Be Passed in Q1, Implementation to Commence July 1
Says no objection to govs’ proposed VAT sharing formula Insists Tinubu’s economic Reforms yielding good results
Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Chairman of the Presidential
Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has stated that the tax reform bills
currently before the National Assembly are expected to be passed into law in the first quarter (Q1)
of 2025, while the implementation will commence in July. Oyedele also said his committee
had no objection to the new valueadded tax (VAT) sharing formula proposed by the Nigeria Governors’
Forum (NGF), declaring that the Continued on page 5
Obasanjo, Buhari, Fashola Testify for Nigeria in Mambilla Arbitration Case in Paris
Tinubu: They did it for Nigeria, I never asked anybody to do it
Deji Elumoye in Abuja Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as the former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, are in Paris, France to testify in the ongoing arbitration case involving the $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, THISDAY has learnt. This is just as President Bola Tinubu declared yesterday that those defending Nigeria in the said case are doing so based on conviction and patriotism, adding that he has no intention of involving any Nigerian. However, due to the confidentiality of arbitration proceedings, THISDAY will not report the story in details. Nigeria is accused of breaching the terms of the power project contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited by
former President Obasanjo in 2003. Obasanjo’s administration had on or about May 22, 2003, awarded the contract for constructing a 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited. The former president had accused the Minister of Power and Steel, under his administration, Dr. Olu Agunloye, of fraudulently awarding the contract for the project without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). However, Agunloye rejected the former president’s accounts on the project, alleging that the Nigerian government was using him as a scapegoat to escape sanction for abandoning contractual agreements on the project. Agunloye insisted that the Continued on page 5
PFAs Exposure in FGN Bonds, Stock Market A BOOST TO WAR AGAINST CRIMES… Corps Commander, Ogun State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), Brigadier General Alade Adedigba (rtd.), and Governor Dapo Rises to N15.96tn in 11 Months…Page 6 L-R: Abiodun, during the Batch 'D' passing out parade ceremony of 690 Amotekun Corps, held at the NYSC Orientation Camp, Sagamu…yesterday