The reforms were designed to address Nigeria’s weak tax-to-GDP ratio, reduce the cost of tax compliance, and broaden the revenue base without increasing rates. The senate on Thursday, 8 May 2025, passed the remaining two of the four tax reform bills submitted by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024. The two bills passed at Thursday’s plenary are the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill and the Nigeria Tax Bill. Their passage marks the conclusion of the...
Upon resumption, the tax reform bills, long pending before the legislature, appeared as one of the first items addressed, signalling the urgency attached to their consideration. The senate has passed a set of long-awaited tax reform bills aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s outdated tax framework. This followed the presentation of a report by the Committee on Finance chaired by Sen. Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) during Wednesday’s plenary. The four (4) bills include the Nigeria Tax...
The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, was named as chairman of the committee. The senate has set up an 18-member committee to oversee the activities of the Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.). The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced the constitution of the committee during the senate’s plenary on Tuesday, explaining that it was established to enhance transparency and accountability in the governance of Rivers State. The Leader of...
Akpabio reaffirmed that the aim of the summit is to facilitate a holistic and strategic approach to national security. The senate has resolved to organise a two-day national security summit in Abuja as part of efforts to tackle the country’s deepening insecurity and rising global uncertainties. The resolution followed the consideration of a motion sponsored by Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim (APC, Ondo South) and co-sponsored by Sen. Titus Zam (APC, Benue North-West), Sen. Onyeka Nwebonyi (APC,...
Only 11 of 157 motions, less than 10%, have directly addressed the urgent issues of flooding and gully erosion. As Nigeria battles the devastating consequences of climate change, including unprecedented flooding and severe erosion, the country’s legislative response has been brought into focus. With the small number of motions debated, some have argued that legislative response is disturbingly disproportionate to the scale of the flooding crisis. Since its inauguration in June 2023, the 10th senate...
The resumption of senate plenary was postponed to May 6 to allow senators engage with constituents during the workers’ day holiday in the first week of May. The senate has announced a shift in the date for the resumption of its plenary sittings, moving it from the earlier scheduled Tuesday, April 29, 2025, to a new date, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. This development was communicated via an internal memo dated April 20, 2025, and addressed...
Since 1999, no lawmaker has been sacked by citizens during their tenure, exposing the recall process as an impotent safeguard against poor representation When Nigeria transitioned to democracy in 1999 after years of military rule, its constitution provided a mechanism that allowed citizens to hold their elected representatives accountable. Among these mechanisms was the power of recall, a constitutional process that gives constituents the right to remove a lawmaker before the end of their tenure...
The senate dismissed requests to immortalise him but agreed to observe a minute silence in his honour. The senate has has thrown out prayers contained in a motion seeking to rename the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu. He was a former chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC) who conducted the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election. The motion, re-sponsored by Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe on...
Abaribe fired back, insisting that senators must be allowed to make personal explanations when proposing motions or bills. Tensions rose in the senate on Wednesday as Sen. Eyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia south) clashed with the leader of the senate, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, over a motion to immortalise the late Professor Humphrey Nwosu and the significance of June 12 in Nigeria’s democratic journey. During plenary, Sen. Abaribe came under Order 41 and 51 seeking the senate’s...
In the last eight years, Nigeria has witnessed the escape of over 7,000 inmates from various correctional facilities across the country. The President of the senate, Godswill Akpabio has charged the newly confirmed Controller-General (CG) of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche, to tackle the rising cases of jailbreaks across the country. Akpabio issued the directive on Tuesday after the senate, during plenary, confirmed Nwakuche’s appointment following the presentation of the report by...
