Wike Clash With Diri Over Planned Mega Rally By FCT Minister’s Supporters In Bayelsa

Wike clash with Diri over planned mega rally by FCT minister’s supporters in Bayelsa. Mr Diri warned that no public place in the state should be used for any event without approval.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has engaged in a spat with Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, for directing that a planned mega rally and inauguration of a support group loyal to him must not hold in the state over security concerns.

Mr Diri had on Thursday asked youths, elders, and traditional rulers to be alert and ordered security agencies to bar Mr Wike, who is a fellow member of the Peoples Democratic Party, from gaining entry into the state to hold a proposed meeting with a suspended party member in the state, George Turner, billed for Tombia Roundabout.

Stating that his government would not allow crisis merchants such as Mr Turner, who he claimed had been enlisted to create factions in the party in the state, to threaten the peace in the state, Mr Diri warned that no public place in the state should be used for any event without approval.

But Mr Wike, responding through his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, in a post on X on Friday, asked Mr Diri to stop bothering himself over nothing, adding that although he wasn’t coming to Bayelsa, the governor was not capable of stopping him if he wanted to.

“Governor Diri of Bayelsa State should rest abeg. He should stop giving himself High Blood Pressure on top of nothing. Wike is not coming to Bayelsa State for anything. But if Wike wants to come to Bayelsa, one million Governor Diri can’t stop him. DAZZOL,” Mr Olayinka wrote.

Mr Olayinka had also onThursday, described Mr Diri’s alarm regarding security concerns about a planned mega rally as “shamefully baseless” and an attempted “cover-up for his failure,” urging him to face his business of governance because the minister would have informed security agencies himself if he were going to attend any rally.

He said, “It is so unfortunate that a Governor with all the security apparatus available to him could go on national television on mere suspicion of people planning a rally, which is their right to hold.”

Wike Clash With Diri

While he stated that Nigerians have the right to support anyone, anywhere, and anytime, he added, “Is this how much the governor is afraid of Wike? Can the governor stop people from holding rallies in the state if they want to?”
He also said Mr Diri, while seeking reelection, was brought to Mr Wike “like a thief in the night” by the minister of state for petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, along with David Lyon.

“As he was kneeling down, begging Wike to support him, he (Wike) was telling him, ‘No, don’t do that, you’re a governor, don’t do that.’ Shamefully, the same Wike has now become someone he goes about disparaging, just to cover up his inadequacies. It’s so obvious that some people don’t have a conscience and it’s unfortunate,” Mr Olayinka added.

This followed the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State and the six-month suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the state assembly by President Bola Tinubu over the 14-month-old struggle for the control of the state’s political structure involving Mr Wike.

NAPPS: Edo Private Schools Protest 300% Tax Hike

NAPPS: Edo private schools protest 300% tax hike. He explained that increasing school fees would reflect poorly on Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration.

The Edo chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has faulted the state government’s over 300 per cent personal income tax increment for private schools in the state.

The group, which voiced its opposition at a news conference in Benin on Friday, noted that the arbitrary tax increase would negatively impact parents and schools in the state.

Lemmy Pare Russel, the state chairman of the association, said the increase would force private schools to raise their fees, potentially harming their operations.

He explained that increasing school fees would reflect poorly on Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration, as it could make education less accessible to many families.

Mr Russell also emphasised that the briefing was triggered by the personal income tax assessments recently distributed to private school owners by the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS).

He stated that the aim of the briefing was to bring the attention of Mr Okpebholo to the sudden and unjustified tax hike on private school owners in the state.

He assured the state government that private schools would continue to pay taxes but demanded a fair tax structure because running a school was social service, not a business.

He mentioned that taxes were typically based on the profits from a business, but private schools were being charged minimum fees per student, adding that this would raise their financial burden significantly.

Mr Russell pointed out that many operational costs, such as local government levies, utility bills, and approval renewals, were not considered in the new tax regime, which added to the challenges faced by private schools.

He expressed concerns that some proprietors, who paid N400,000 in 2024, would now face over N6 million in taxes, indicating an over 1,500 percent increase, which could force some schools out of business.

Mr Russell noted that this increase affected private school owners across all three senatorial districts in Edo State, with tax hikes ranging from 600 to over 1,600 percent in various local governments.

In particular, private school owners in Ikpoba Okha and Oredo Local Governments saw their taxes rose drastically, with some facing increases of over N7 million, threatening their operations.
Mr Russell urged Mr Okpebholo to reduce personal income taxes for private schools to between 5 and 10 percent, as it was before his government took office.

In an interview with several school proprietors, including Peter Odion Okungbowa, Dr Mathew Nosa Omoragbon and Ojeh-Oziegbe Azuka appealed to the governor to intervene and prevent the closure of their schools due to the tax increases.

In his reaction, the executive chairman of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Oladele Bankole-Balogun, dismissed the claims, explaining that the EIRS does not have the authority to raise taxes arbitrarily.

Mr Balogun emphasised that taxation was governed by law and that no tax could be increased without due legislative process.
“The Revenue Service cannot unilaterally increase taxes for private schools. That claim is false.

“Tax laws are determined by statute, meaning we cannot wake up one day and decide to impose new taxes. Every tax is itemised by law,” he said.

NAPPS

Mr Balogun maintained that complaints about higher tax demands may stem from stricter enforcement rather than any actual increase.

He pointed out that the EIRS was actively ensuring compliance, particularly among individuals and businesses that had previously underreported or evaded taxes.

“The only authority that can increase tax rates for the state is the State House of Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Executive Governor, and always in line with federal tax laws,” he explained.

He urged Edo residents to embrace taxation as a civic duty, stressing that tax revenue was essential for government projects, including roads, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and security.

President Tinubu Appoints APC Chieftains As Board Chairmen Of NTA, NAPTIP, Others

President Tinubu appoints APC chieftains as board chairmen of NTA, NAPTIP, others. Kingsley Ononogbu, APC state chairman, Abia, is now board chairman, National Parks Headquarters.

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Felix Morka, the national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the board chairman of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

The president also approved the appointment of Hon. Fatuhu Buhari from Katsina State as the director-general of the National Agricultural Seed Council, Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, said in a statement on Friday.

The president further appointed Muhammad Massan, APC state chairman, Bauchi state as board chairman, Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, Ilorin, and Abdullahi Abbas, APC state chairman, Kano State, as board chairman, Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service.

Others are: Dr Austian Agada, APC state chairman, Benue State, board chairman, National Agricultural Seed Council; Hon. Macdonald Ebere, APC state chairman, Imo State, board chairman, Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos.

The president also appointed Ubong Ntukekpo, APC state chairman, Akwa Ibom, board chairman, National Institute for Freshwater Fish, New Bussa; Emma Eneukwu, deputy chairman (South) of the APC, board chairman, National Automotive Development Council.

Aminu Bobi, APC State chairman, Niger, was appointed board chairman, National Library of Nigeria, just as Abass Olayide, APC state chairman, Oyo State, was appointed board chairman, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna.

In the same vein, Mr Tinubu appointed Mohammed Gadaka, APC state chairman, Yobe, board chairman, Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre; Benjamin Omale, APC state chairman, Benue State, board chairman, National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu.

Also, Rufus Bature, APC state chairman, Plateau, was appointed board chairman, Nigerian Coal Corporation; Abubakar Kana, APC state chairman, Kebbi State, board chairman, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies.

Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, APC national working committee member from Abia, is now board chairman, Project Development Institute; Mustapha Salihu, APC state chairman, Adamawa, board chairman, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

Kingsley Ononogbu, APC state chairman, Abia, is now board chairman, National Parks Headquarters; Abdulmalik Usman, APC state chairman, Federal Capital Territory, board chairman, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan.

Tinubu

Hon. Ibrahim El-Sudi, APC state chairman, Taraba State, has also been appointed board chairman, Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria; Sola Elesin, APC state chairman, Ekiti State, board chairman, Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences.

The president appointed Jarrett Tenebe, APC state chairman, Edo, board chairman, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure; Tukur Umar Danfulani, APC state chairman, Zamfara, board chairman, Federal Medical Centre, Azare.

Also appointed were Hon. Aminu Sani Gumel, APC state chairman, Jigawa as board chairman, Federal College of Produce Inspection and Stored Products Technology, Kano, and Idris Shuaibu, APC state chairman, Adamawa, board chairman, Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan.