Business

Oyo Assembly Approves N42b Supplementary Budget

Oyo APC accuses PDP, INEC of plans to frustrate voters in state

Oyo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed into law a 2023 supplementary appropriation bill to the tune of about N42billion.

The passage into law of the supplementary budget is yielding to the request of Governor Seyi Makinde for the Assembly to upwardly increase the 2023 approved budget from N310,432,500.00 to N352,282,500.00.

Makinde had, in the request letter dated October 16, said there was need to upwardly review the 2023 budget

owing to the need to realign the budget of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in line with present macroeconomic fundamentals, exchange rate, interest rate shifts and other economic fluctuations.

He added that the alignment will efficiently reallocate idle funds and enable MDAs situate the year’s budget performance in line with current macroeconomic fundamentals.

The approved sum brings the 2023 budget to a recurrent expenditure of N169,477,038.38 and capital expenditure of N182,805,366,965.62.

The supplementary budget was passed after the House Committee on Finance, Appropriation and State Economic Planning presented its report at plenary.

The report of the Honourable O.S. Babalola led committee held that it considered the inputs of the State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and projections in the Oyo State Government Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) before approving of the supplementary budget.

Also identified as imperative, in approving the budget, is the need to cater for the impacts of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, the floating of the exchange rates on the state government’s spendings.

Among those who have new budget figures in the amended budget are the Office of the Governor; Oyo State House of Assembly, House of Assembly Service Commission, Ministry of Public Works & Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Oyo State Investment Promotion & Public Private Partnership Agency, Oyo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ministry of Health, Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Special Duties.

Business

Customs exceeds 2024 target, rakes in N71.6bn

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, says it surpassed its revenue target for 2024, raking in a total of N71.6 billion.

The Customs Area Controller, CAC, Effiong Harrison, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying that its target for 2024 was N56.861 billion.

Harrison expressed delight over the record-breaking revenue achieved by the command.

The Customs Area Controller described the 2024 revenue as unprecedented, noting that it was the highest-ever generated in the history of the command.

“A detailed breakdown of the revenue underscores the remarkable achievement of the command in revenue generation.

“During a meeting with his management team, the area controller revealed that the command had exceeded its annual revenue target of N56,861,094,269.07 by generating N71,633,687,108.84.

“This represents a 20 per cent increase, amounting to N14,772,592,839.27,” he said.

According to him, July 2024, in particular, was a standout month, with the command recording its highest-ever monthly revenue of N12 billion.

Harrison, while comparing the command’s performance in 2023 and 2024, noted a significant revenue increase of N41.1 billion in 2024 when compared to the N30.5 billion generated in 2023, reflecting a 135 per cent growth.

He expressed profound gratitude to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, and his management team for their unwavering support to the command.

Harrison extended appreciation to critical stakeholders and other government agencies, acknowledging them as invaluable partners in the command’s success in 2024.

He expressed optimism that the command would achieve even greater milestones in fulfilling its core mandates in 2025.

Business

FCT-IRS announces deadline for tax returns

The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has urged private companies, government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other employers of labour in the territory to file their employee annual tax returns for 2024.

The acting Executive Chairman, Mr Michael Ango, who made the call in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said that the employers have up to Jan. 31 to comply.

In the statement, signed by the service’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Mustapha Sumaila, the FCT-IRS boss said that the returns should be filed using the prescribed forms provided by the service.

This, he said, was in compliance with Section 81 of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) 2011 (as amended) and the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Regulations.

He explained that the PITA Act mandates all employers of labour in the FCT to file annual returns of all emoluments paid to their employees and the total taxes of the preceding year, not later than Jan. 31 of every year.

Ango had during the 2025 stakeholder’s engagement, emphasised that filing of employee annual returns by all employees was mandatory as provided by law.

He added that failure to file the returns would attract penalties and other sanctions, which the FCT-IRS would not hesitate to impose on any defaulters.

According to him, the best form of compliance is voluntary, which the FCT-IRS expects from all taxpayers in the FCT.

“I, therefore, enjoined all private organisations, MDAs, government owned enterprises, including sole proprietorships who are employers of labour in the FCT to comply with their tax obligations to avoid sanctions.

“More importantly, the support will contribute to the development of the FCT and the efforts of the Minister of FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, to transform the territory into a modern city,” he said.