Five things to know to start your Thursday

Peter Obi vows to sue Peoples Gazette, others over leaked fake audio tape

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential election, has promised to take legal action against the Peoples Gazette (PG), an online media publication responsible for the leaked fake audio tape.

The leaked fake audio tape, which was widely circulated in the online and conventional media spaces, had generated so much attention that many, especially those in government, had labelled Obi a religious fanatic only interested in grabbing power.

Obi had issued a statement on Wednesday night via his official Twitter handle debunking the audio tape, saying it is fake and doctored with the objective to embarrass him, but he promised to sue PG and all those responsible for the concocted audio tape.

“Let me reiterate that the audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is or was a religious war.

“The attempts to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked. Our legal team has been instructed to take appropriate legal actions against Peoples Gazette and others,” he said.

Read more: I’m under pressure to leave the country; Peter Obi

FG gives April 30 as new date for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway relaunch

The Federal Government has said that the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kano Expressways will be completed by April 30.

Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, gave this assurance at the pre-inspection of the completed Loko-Oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State on Wednesday.

Fashola said, “I want to appeal to commuters on that road for continuous patience and understanding. It is a difficult project to execute because it is perhaps one of the busiest roads in the country.

“Building through 40,000 vehicular traffic daily is not an easy undertaking; we cannot shut down the road. So, we have to manage and divert traffic for the safety of those involved in the construction.

“So, I want to implore that forbearance continues because the deadline we have for completion now is April 30 this month.

“In about four weeks, or 26 days, plus or minus, that road should also be fully completed, open to traffic from Lagos to Ibadan, and beyond the toll gate up to kilometre 116.”

Nigeria exports 214 products in 2022 — NEPC

Ezra Yakusak, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), disclosed that Nigeria exported a total of 214 products in 2022.

Yakusak said this at the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

At the conference titled “The Role of the Non-Oil Sector Towards Economic Diversification and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth”, he attributed the growth in the number of products exported to value addition and good packaging.

He added that adding value to products and using proper packaging are ways to guarantee acceptance in the global market.

RMAFC amendment Bill scales 2nd reading in Senate

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) amendment Bill on Wednesday scaled second reading at the Senate.

This was sequel to the presentation of the lead debate on the general principles of the bill by the sponsor, Sen. Olubumi Adetunmbi, during plenary.

The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Repeal and Re-enact the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act, 2023”.

Leading the debate, Adetunmbi said that the bill was read for the first time on March 4.

He said that the bill sought to reinforce the mandate and powers of the commission as a body saddled with the responsibility of monitoring revenue generation and disbursement on behalf of the people and government of Nigeria. (NAN)

Amazon plans to trim employee stock awards amid tough economy

Amazon.com Inc said it would reduce employee stock awards, a part of its compensation plan, as the e-commerce giant navigates an uncertain economy.

“We made the decision to reduce RSU (restricted stock units) awards in the final outlook year by a small amount (other years are not impacted),” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement, without specifying the period of the final outlook year.

The news comes weeks after Amazon announced a second round of mass layoffs, piling on to a wave of job cuts that has swept the technology sector as a rough economy forces companies to get leaner.

Business Insider had first reported the planned change in the company’s pay structure and said Amazon would reevaluate 2025 compensation in the first quarter of next year to “plan for stock variation”.

The company was weighing the possibility of adjusting its compensation model in the future to be more balanced between base cash compensation and equity, after looking at the combination of an uncertain economy and its compensation budget, the spokesperson said. (Reuters)