Connect with us

Business

Miyetti Allah Vows To Sue Southern Governors

Miyetti Allah Vows To Sue Southern Governors

Miyetti Allah vows to sue southern governors over anti-open grazing law

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has vowed to sue governors in the southern states and the Middle Belt who have passed the anti-open grazing laws.

The group which has been vocal in condemning the decision of the southern governors to ban open grazing in their states, described the anti-open grazing law as “satanic and an attempt by the populist and corruption-driven agenda by visionless, inept and desperate politicians’ to destroy pastoralists’ means of livelihood.”

The Miyetti Allah, at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, presided by its National President, Alhaji Abdullahi Bode, and National Secretary, Engr. Saleh Alhassan, insisted that they will challenge the decision in court as they will not sit back and see their people suffer from the law.

The group also feared the law will destroy livestock production and send into poverty millions of people, like butchers, transporters, livestock dealers and consumers who depend on the livestock value chain.

At the news briefing with selected journalists which was a pre-event to the national stakeholders’ peace summit on the theme: “National Cohesion As a Panacea For Peaceful Coexistence Between Farmers And Herders In Nigeria,” Alhassan called on the National Assembly and President Muhammad Buhari to intervene and stop current attempts by some states governors to criminalise their means of economic livelihood of cattle rearing through the enactment of the laws.

“These oppressive laws and hostile policies being enacted by state governors are fundamentally going against the Fulani pastoralist culture, economic interest and constitutional rights.

“It is important to note that inter-state movement of pastoralists is analogous to inter-state commerce, which is an exclusive preserve of the legislative powers of the National Assembly under Item 62 of the Exclusive Legislative List.

“To this effect, any action taken by any state Assembly that is in conflict with the above section of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is null and void.

“These laws do not take into cognisance the sociology, economic, production system, climate variations and other push factors that are inherent in pastoralists’ movements across ecological zones.

“It is a common knowledge that Nigeria’s mode of agricultural practice is still primitive all over the country and are not consistent with global best practices.

“So why singling out the pastoralists, who have been suffering from the cumulative years of neglect in terms of development from both federal and state governments,” he added.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

NCC drags MTN, 4 others to court over copyright infringement

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has filed criminal charges against MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. and four others over alleged copyright infringement.

The charge with Number FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024 filed in the Federal High Court, Abuja Division was obtained on Monday.

The four other defendants in the case are; Karl Toriola, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria,  Nkeakam Abhulimen, Fun Mobile Ltd. and Yahaya Maibe.

In the three-count charge, NCC alleged that the defendants, between 2010 and 2017 “offered for sale, sold and traded for business’’, infringed musical works of an artist, Maleke Idowu Moye without his consent and authorisation.

The Commission alleged that the defendants used musical works and sound recordings of Maleke with subsisting copyright, as Caller Ring Back Tunes, without the authorisation of the artiste.

The musical works and sound recordings of the musician allegedly infringed upon included; 911, Minimini-wanawana, Stop racism, Ewole, 911 instrumental, Radio, Low waist, and No bother.

 

The defendants were also alleged to have distributed the musical works to their subscribers, without authorisation, thereby, infringing on the rights of the artiste.

In the third count, the defendant were alleged to have in their possession, other than for their private or domestic use, the musical works and sound recordings of the artiste.

According to NCC, the alleged offences are contrary to and punishable under section 20 (2) (a) (b) and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The case is yet to be assigned to any judge and no date has been fixed for mention.

Continue Reading

Business

FG files criminal charges against Binance

The Federal Government has initiated criminal proceedings against Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform over alleged tax evasion.

The charges, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, were announced on Monday by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.

The lawsuit, designated as suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, implicates Binance with a four-count tax evasion accusation.

FIRS, in a statement issued on Monday by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser, Media to the Executive Chairman of the service, said the move was aimed at upholding fiscal responsibility and safeguarding the economic integrity of Nigeria.

Joined with the crypto company as second and third defendants in the suit are Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, both senior executives of Binance currently under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The charges levied against Binance include non-payment of Value-Added Tax, VAT, Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.

In the suit, the FG also accused Binance of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.

According to the statement, one of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.

Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities.

The charges further detailed specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers.

“Any company that transacts business in excess of N25 million annually is deemed by the Finance Act to be present in Nigeria.

“According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it has to pay taxes like Company Income Tax, CIT and also collect and pay Value Added Tax, VAT.

“But Binance did not do this properly. So, the company broke Nigerian laws and could be investigated and taken to court for this infraction,” Adekanmbi said.

Continue Reading

Business

Prices of foodstuffs increase by 100percent- NBS report

The prices of rice, garri, and yam, popular staple foods in Nigeria, surged to 134.81 per cent, 109.16 per cent and 131.33 per cent, respectively, in February 2024 compared to last year.

This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics in its latest selected food price watch in February.

Accordingly, the report said 1kg of local rice increased by 134.81 per cent to N1,222.97 in February 2024 from N520.84 last year.

Similarly, the average price of garri increased to N723.45 in February 2024 from N345.88 in February 2023.

Also, the price of yam increased to N1009.56 in February 2024 from N436.41 in February 2023.

On a month-on-month basis, the prices of rice, Garri and yam rose by 19.69 per cent, 20.44 per cent and 11.93 per cent, respectively

In addition, NBS said the price of 500g of sliced bread increased by 89.48 per cent between February 2023 and February 2024

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending