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The Central Bank of Nigeria says the recently introduced N50 stamp duty for all deposit transactions will not be collected for Payments of salaries and wages as well as payments and deposits for self-to-self transactions whether inter or intra bank. This clarification was made in a statement sent out by the Director Corporate communication of CBN, Mallam Ibrahim Mu'azu yesterday January 21st. The management of the apex bank had on Monday January 19th sent out a circular to all Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial institutions titled, "Collection and Remittance of statutory charges on receipts of Nigeria Postal Service under theStamp Duties Act”, mandating it to collect N50 stamp duty for deposit transactions. The N50 stamp duty is being introduced to help increase the tax revenue of the Federal government. Part of the statement released by the CBN Director of Corporate Communication's reads “The implementation of the Stamp Duty at this point in time emanated from a F...

The Federal Government has imposed a stamp duty of N50 on bank customers for money received into their accounts. This implies that every bank customer will henceforth pay N50 stamp duty for money received into their accounts through electronic transfer, cash and cheques. This directive was contained in a circular to all Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial institutions titled, "Collection and Remittance of statutory charges on receipts of Nigeria Postal Service under the Stamp Duties Act”. The circular in part reads “As part of efforts to boost its revenue base, the federal government of Nigeria is exploring revenue opportunities in the non-oil sectors especially taxes and rates. It is in recognition of this fact that banks and other financial institutions are enjoined to support government’s revenue drive through compliance with the provisions of the Stamp Duties Act, LFN 2004 as reinforced by the court judgement in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1710/2013.  In this reg...

The Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Chris Ngige, on Thursday said indolent youths would not benefit from the N5,000 stipend that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government promised to give the unemployed. He emphasized that there was nowhere in the world where the government would pay people to go and “sleep”, revealing that the programme would be in collaboration with some state governments. He was speaking at the secretariat of the APC in Abuja. “We won’t pay N5,000 for people to be indolent. No country in the world would pay people to go home and sleep and collect cash,” he said. “Some people would get N5,000; we will pay some N10,000, and even for people in teacher conversion scheme, will would get more than N10,000, N15,000 as stipend during training, and they are going to be employed by state governments and the federal government in different institutions. “It is not a programme we shall run alone; the state...

Drug smugglers trying to sneak thousands of pounds of weed disguised as carrots into the United States were sniffed out by authorities this weekend—though they demonstrated "creativity" in the attempted smuggling, officials said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted 2,493 pounds of “alleged marijuana,” which was found hidden among a commercial shipment of fresh carrots in a tractor-trailer traveling from Mexico. The shipment was discovered during a search at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility, located near the U.S. border with Mexico in southeastern Texas—around 250 miles south of San Antonio. A close-up of the weed hidden in packages made to resemble carrots. The packages were contained in a shipment of actual carrots from Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection                           “Once again, d...

Chairman of the Rivers state branch of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Furo Green, disclosed that a medical doctor with Braithwait Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMH, Dr. Livy Ijamala, has died from Lassa Fever, making the total number of deaths to 3 in the state. The Chairman said late doctor, Ijamala, who died in the early hours of yesterday from the ailment, had contact with patients infected with Lassa Fever. Dr. Furo said that the late Doctor has been quickly buried in line with recommendations of World Health Organization, WHO, for deaths from contagious diseases. He added that a team from WHO had already visited the hospital for assessment, and that the hospital has been decontaminated while those who made contact with the late Dr. Ijamala have been placed on observation. He said: “Last night, one of our hard-working doctors in the department of obstetrics gynaecology, Dr. Livy Ijamala, lost his life following infectio...

According to a report by Daily Trust, the 2016 budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly by President Buhari on December 22nd is missing. The disappearance of the budget document was announced by Senator Ali Ndume during a closed door session that lasted 90 minutes today January 12th. This comes amid rumors that the budget was withdrawn from the Legislature by the Presidency. The Senators were supposed to commence the consideration of the N6.08tr budget today.

Uchechi Okwu Kanu, wife of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the director of Radio Biafra Nnamdi Kanu, has been delivered of a baby boy. The birth of the baby boy was announced in a message on one of the facebook pages of Biafra. The message reads, “Good morning great Biafrans with joy in our hearts and celebration of new arrival to IPOB family, our first lady the wife of our eminent leader Joshua Nnamdi Kanu has delivered a healthy baby boy, mother and child are in good health.” Kanu has been in detention since October, 2015 after he was arrested for leading the agitation for the actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra. He was however, asked to be released unconditionally by a judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, from the custody of the Department of State Services. Despite the judgment, he was rearrested and fresh charges slammed against him.

Twins in San Diego are getting some attention because, though born just minutes apart, one has a birthday in 2015 and one in 2016. Jaelyn Valenica was born New Year's Eve at 11:59 p.m. Her twin brother, Luis Valencia Jr., arrived at 12:01 a.m. on New Year's Day. KGTV-TV reports that the babies were due at the end of January, but doctors at San Diego Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center called the mother in because one was in a breech position. The father, Luis Valencia, called it a New Year's blessing to have two healthy children. Photo provided by Kaiser Permanente San Diego shows Maribel Valencia with her husband Luis and their 3-year-old daughter Isabella, left, holding her newborn twins at the San Diego Kaiser Permanente.

Zinedine Zidane has been unveiled as the new coach of Real Madrid. The club's president, Florentino Pérez, revealed the appointment at a press conference held at the Santiago Bernabéu otoday following the conclusion of the meeting of the club's Board of Directors: "Good evening, first of all thank you to everyone for being here at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. I appear before you to announce the agreements just reached by the Board of Directors of Real Madrid. Today we have made the difficult decision, particularly for me, to terminate the contract of Rafa Benítez as first-team coach. I wish to underline that he is a great professional and a magnificent person, and I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my gratitude to him for his hard work and dedication during his months as coach of Real Madrid". I would also like to announce that the Real Madrid Board of Directors have decided to name Zinedine Zidane as the new coach of the first team. There ...

The Unveiling Of Jesus Statue In Imo State Imo state, the Eastern heartland on Friday unveiled a nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa. Standing barefoot with arms outstretched, the "Jesus de Greatest" statue weighs in at 40 tonnes. More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official unveiling in the village of Abajah in Imo state, The statute was commissioned by Obinna Onuoha, a local businessman who hired a Chinese company to carve it. It was placed in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church that he built in 2012. In his homily at a Mass before unveiling the statue, presiding bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma said it is a "very great symbol of faith" for Catholic worshippers and passers-by alike and remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ," The presiding Bishop blessed the statue after mass. The cost ...

An unnamed woman delivered her baby inside a Keke Marwa on New Year Day. According to the person, the woman went into labour and was taken to a local Health Centre in a Tricycle but there was nobody there. They quickly set up the tricycle into a mobile hospital and with the help of his wife who happens to be a medical doctor, and his sisters-inlaw, the woman was safely delivered of her baby.See what was posted: "On my way to see my mother inlaw with my family this evening, my sister inlaw whose family house is directly opposite the LGA health centre (Iji Nike Cottage Hospital, Near Enugu East Development Centre Nkwo Nike) flagged us down( we didnt plan to stop by ), few minutes later a young man in his late twenties ran in panting...."my wife is in Labour in that health centre and there is nobody there" . In less than 5 minutes a mobile hospital was set setup in the "keke" that brought in the woman. To the glory of God, my wife who is a Dr delivered the woman...

After several years of police manhunt, Mrs Juliet Ezeonye has finally been caught and reprimanded in prison for false allegations against the General Overseer of The Lord’s Chosen and misleading the former Inspector General of Police. An Abuja Chief Magistrate Court has remanded a 45 year-old woman, Juliet Uche Ezeonye Idu [a.k.a. Evangelist] to prison custody for making false allegation and criminal intimidation against the General Overseer, Lord’s Charismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lazarus Muoka. The suspect who has been on the wanted list of the police since 2013 was arraigned before the court by the Force Criminal Investigation Department [FCID] for giving false information with intent to mislead a public servant and defamation contrary to sections 140 and 392 of the Penal Code law as well as alleged criminal intimidation contrary to section 397 [b]of the Penal Code Law. Although she pleaded not guilty to the charge, her bail application which was moved ...

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige says unemployed graduates, market women and the Civilian Joint Task Force in the north-east are those that have been targeted to be beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s N5,000 stipend. Ngige gave further clarifications in Abuja during an interview with journalists today December 28th. He explained that the N5,000 stipend would be disbursed through a social security scheme.

Jose Mourinho is facing a massive dilemma after being offered an instant return to Real Madrid. And that will turn up the heat even further on Manchester United and Louis Van Gaal who is under increasing pressure at Old Trafford. United must move quickly or risk missing out on Mourinho who must also decide on whether to pursue the Real Madrid job - or hang on. Mirror Sport revealed last month Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wants Mourinho to return to the Bernabeu. And it is understood that Perez has now made a move to bring in Mourinho to replace under-pressure Rafa Benitez - and wants him in charge as quickly as possible. Mourinho would prefer the United job rather than return to Real Madrid where he left amid controversy and under a cloud two-and-a-half years ago. But despite Mourinho being unpopular with sections of the Real Madrid fans and dressing room, Perez has remained a huge fan. Agents have now sounded out Mourinho’s camp and placed an offer on the table. ...

A big fight broke out between Anambra First Lady and Uche Ekwunife recently on the entourage of Nigeria’s First Lady to Poland. Trouble started when on arrival with the First Lady, who was accompanied by Uche Ekwunife, Bola Shagaya and others, Ebele Obiano who was among those at the airport to receive the First Lady, greeted every other person except Uche Ekwunife. Later in the day, when Ebele Obiano came to see the Dame Ptience Jonathan, according to a source with the First Lady, she again greeted everybody except Uche Ekwunife. Those who had noticed the trend asked her why the obvious slight, wondering whether Uche, perhaps was having an under ground relationship with the new governor. Pointing at Uche, Ebere said ” I do not greet prostitutes,” to the astonishment of all those around. Uche Ekwunife did not (could not) say anything, according to our source, until Ebele Obiano told her that she would deal with her and make sure she crumbles all her b...

Tragedy occurred,today in the industrial town of Nnewi, Anambra state when an industrial Gas plant suddenly exploded and with over 100 persons burnt to death. The explosion rocked the Inter Corp Oil limited(LPG Gas Plant), an subsidiary of Chikason Group. According to an eye-witness, the fire incident which started at about 11am, was caused by an explosion that occured when a truck was making an attempt to discharge its contents without waiting for the mandatory cooling time. It was gathered that tanker was discharging at a time when customers were said to be refilling their gas cylinders. The source hinted that all the customers who went to the gas plant to get a refill were allegedly burnt to ashes while some of the victims who were in the neighborhood and passers-by also got caught in the inferno. At the scen e of the incident, the charred bodies of the victims and other badly affected burnt persons in the vicinity of the gas plant were taken to Nnamdi Azikwe U...

Friends and family are crying foul as winner of Queen of Aso Nigeria 2014, an Abuja-based beauty pageant Florence Esu is engaged to her friend’s husband, Dr. Bright Echefu, four months after the friend died during pregnancy. The pair got engaged this past Saturday, December 19, 2015 and invited Queen Of Aso Nigeria 2009 Jennifer Igwegbe and other members from the pageant’s management team. Cindy Echefu, Bright’s late wife, died less than a month after turning 28 years old, this August, 2015, when she was pregnant with the couple’s third child. Friends and some family members, including Cindy’s cousin, have taken to Facebook and Instagram to pour out their suspicions and frustrations on Bright moving on too quickly, in their opinion. A picture of his new fiancee is now his profile picture on his Instagram page. “Engagement doesn’t mean we have been sleeping with each other. She is the only friend I can keep in the care of ...

Several Sources are reporting that there has been a massive blast which resulted in a huge fire at Chicason Plant in Nnewi. The cause of the explosion is not known as at the time of this report. Several people are feared dead.More details soon

The Miss Universe folks just put an end to speculation that they’ll never hire Steve Harvey again after he announced the wrong winner on Sunday. In an interview today on Jim Rome’s CBS Sports Radio Show, Mark Shapiro, chief content officer for “Miss Universe” owners WME | IMG, said the “Family Feud” host was “very remorseful” about the error and that Harvey was “absolutely” welcome back to host the 2016 pageant in Belize. Shapiro said Harvey “did a great job. He was funny, he was informative, he’s high energy, he’s got a great following… I definitely want him back, and I would hate to see him not come back. He’s going to want a shot to redeem himself.” The Belize Tourism Board is also hoping Harvey will return as host, stating it was impressed with the way he handled himself after the mistake and that it disagreed with speculation that the incident could slam the door on...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a call-to-action to the people of Britain, saying that following the murder of their beloved Princess Diana 18 years ago, the country must prosecute the Royal family after conclusive proof has emerged that they were responsible for her assassination. During a solemn Christmas luncheon at the Kremlin, Putin accused Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles of arranging the murder of Princess Diana via MI6 agents in Paris. He says that after speaking with Elton John on the telephone last month, he was privy to irrefutable evidence that the royal family had blood on their hands. During an informal and reflective speech, Putin told a select group of colleagues and esteemed state-approved journalists that Diana’s brutal assassination brought him unfathomably to tears at the time in 1997, and that he knew deep down that her death was due to foul- play. Putin, who vows to destroy the Illumi...