Category: News

Nigeria’s number one man, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed four Executive Orders into law.

He signed the new orders in order to curb arbitrary taxation policy in the country.

Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, to the President, Dele Alake, announced the policy directive on Thursday during an interactive session with State House Correspondents.

Among the Executive Orders signed into law by the President, includes the Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023, has now deferred the commencement date of the changes contained in the Act from May 23, 2023 to September 1, 2023. This is to ensure adherence to the 90 days minimum advance notice for tax changes as contained in the 2017 National Tax Policy.

The second Order involves the Customs, Excise Tariff (Variation) Amendment Order, 2023.

Alake said this has shifted the commencement date of the tax changes from March 27, 2023 to August 1, 2023 and also in line with the National Tax Policy.

He said Mr President has given an Order suspending the 5% Excise Tax on telecommunication services as well as the Excise Duties escalation on locally manufactured products.

“Further to his commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, the President has ordered the suspension of the newly introduced Green Tax by way of Excise Tax on Single Use Plastics, including plastic containers and bottles.

“In addition, the President has ordered the suspension of Import Tax Adjustment levy on certain vehicles.

As a listening leader, the President issued these orders to ameliorate the negative impacts of the tax adjustments on businesses and chokehold on households across affected sectors.

“His Excellency will not exacerbate the plight of Nigerians,” Alake stated.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given an insight into his life before his achievement in the political field.

He revealed that he once worked as a taxi driver in the United States and even experienced being slapped by a naval officer for unintentionally overcharging him.

The President’s experiences were published in a biography titled ‘Tinubu: My life as gypsy cab driver in the US’, written by seasoned journalist, Mike Awoyinfa and featured on the back page of a national daily.

According to the story, Tinubu worked as an unlicensed taxi driver in Chicago, picking passengers up from the airport and driving them to their destinations.

The President revealed that he took up this driving job as a means of financial support before he started school.

He narrated, “We got an unregistered used car commonly called Gypsy, which we ran as a taxi. We operated at the airport where we picked passengers, and not anywhere else, like the hotel because it was forbidden for unlicensed cab drivers to do so.

“I was able to pay for my apartment and tuition fees at Chicago State University. I supplemented that by doing different menial jobs like door guard and security man.”

Speaking further about the incident, he said the naval officer he carried responded with a slap on his face because overcharged him, as his destination was a nearby.

“As a cab driver, one experience I will never forget was when I over-charged a naval officer who was returning to the country. It was not intentional,” Tinubu said.

“Apparently, I didn’t know the direction. There was no GPRS in those days to locate directions. So, he gave me the direction to his house in a Virginia suburb.

“I gave him the price and the man responded with a slap to my face. He said I should know the correct price to charge to the location he mentioned. He slapped me and gave me the money.”