ICYMI: Governor Fubara Orders Immediate Employment For Children Of Fallen Servicemen

ICYMI: Governor Fubara orders immediate employment for children of fallen servicemen. Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has directed the immediate employment of children of fallen servicemen in the state.

He gave the order on Thursday during the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony at Government House, Port Harcourt, instructing the Secretary to the State Government to ensure swift implementation.

Fubara

Fubara said the move reflects the state’s commitment to supporting security agencies and families of personnel who died in active service, as he also pledged continued welfare and logistical support for the military.

EFCC Tenders More Fresh Bank Records In Yahaya Bello’s ‘N110.4bn Fraud’ Trial

EFCC tenders more fresh bank records in Yahaya Bello’s ‘N110.4bn fraud’ trial. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday tendered fresh bank records in the ongoing trial of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi state, before a federal high court in Abuja.

Bello is standing trial alongside Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving about N110.4 billion.

At the resumed hearing before Maryanne Anineh, the presiding judge, the prosecution team, led by Kemi Pinheiro, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), presented prosecution witness six (PW6), Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, for further cross-examination.

During cross-examination, Joseph Daudu, counsel to the first and second defendants, questioned the witness on exhibit S1—a statement of account earlier tendered by the prosecution.

Daudu asked the witness to clarify his earlier testimony that the statement of account contained eight columns, particularly the meaning of the “description” column. Bata explained that the column reflected the narration of transactions.

He drew the court’s attention to an entry dated January 20, 2016, which reads: “Cq 158 Abdulsalami Hudu for N10,000,000.”

Bata also pointed out another entry stating, “ZB chq 155 paid Halims Hotels and Tours, Lokoja, N2,454,400.”

When asked whether he knew the purpose for which the N10 million paid to Hudu or the sum paid to Halims Hotels and Tours was used, the witness said he could not determine how the funds were spent or their intended purpose.

Daudu further referred the witness to exhibit X1 and asked him to identify it.
Responding, Bata said it was the account-opening package for a company with account number 1014878995, domiciled at Zenith Bank’s Lokoja branch.

The defence counsel then asked the witness about the number of transactions recorded within specific dates.

While Daudu suggested there were 21 transactions between March 10 and March 12, 2016, the witness said the entries he was working with began from November 14, 2016.
Directing the witness to entries dated December 6, 2016, Daudu asked him to read them out.

Bata told the court that the first entry was a transfer from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, credited with N74,378,483.20, adding that another entry on the same day showed a cheque payment of N10 million to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau.

Yahaya Bello

Asked whether the statement indicated the purpose of the payment, the witness said the narration did not indicate the reason for the transaction, adding that the same applied to another N10 million credit in favour of Sallau.

The witness was also cross-examined by Z.B. Abbas, counsel to the third defendant, Abdulsalami Hudu, who asked whether all withdrawals made by the third defendant were by cheque, to which the witness replied in the affirmative, adding that authorised signatories duly signed the cheques.

Abbas also confirmed from the witness that exhibit X1 was the statement of account of the government house account.

On exhibit X2, the witness said the third defendant was introduced to the bank as a civil servant and accountant.

Value-Added Tax: What To Know About VAT Fee For Banking Services

Value-Added Tax: What to know about VAT fee for banking services. On Thursday, banks said they will start deducting 7.5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on banking services, including point of sale (POS) transaction fees, mobile banking transfer fees, from January 19.

In an email to customers, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank said the charge stems from a government-endorsed regulatory change, with the proceeds of the charge remitted to the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS).

“The NRS has communicated a deadline of 19th January for all financial institutions (commercial banks, microfinance banks and electronic money transfer operators) to start collecting and remitting VAT,” the bank said.

According to the statement, the VAT is not on the actual amount sent by customers but on the service fee.

In this report, TheCable provides a breakdown of what you need to know about the development.
WHAT ARE BANKING SERVICES?

Banking services comprise various financial products and services provided by banks and other financial institutions to individuals, corporations, and government agencies.

Banks usually deduct fixed service charges from customers per transaction on such financial services

For instance, a N50 stamp duty and a N50 electronic money transfer fee is deducted from customers when an electronic transfer is made on transactions.

Such charges include electronic banking charges such as point of sale (POS) transaction fees, mobile banking fees (transfers), unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) transaction fees, and POS activation fees.

Other charges include card issuance fees, SMS alert charges, and account maintenance.

WHAT WILL BE DEDUCTED?
Banks are required to deduct VAT on eligible banking charges and remit it to the NRS.

The fee applies to the service charge, not the actual transaction amount.
For instance, on electronic transfer fee, if a customer intends to send N50,000 to a loved one, the bank deducts N50 as bank charges, the customer will pay the 7.5 percent on the bank charge.

Value-Added Tax

As a result, the 7.5 percent VAT will be applied to the N50, and not the principal amount (N50,000).
Consequently, a total amount of N50,053.75 will be deducted from the customer.

IS VAT CHARGE A NEW DEVELOPMENT?
In a statement on Thursday, the NRS said the VAT charge on banking services, fees, commissions, and electronic money transfers is not newly introduced.

“VAT has always applied to fees, commissions, and charges for services rendered by banks and other financial institutions under Nigeria’s long-established VAT regime,” the statement reads.

According to the service, the Nigeria Tax Act did not introduce VAT on banking charges, nor did it impose any new tax obligation on customers in this regard.