Five things to know to start your Thursday

FG, states, LGs share N714.629bn for March

In a communiqué issued at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting for April, the agency disclosed that the sum of N714.629 billion was shared to the three tiers of government in Abuja on Wednesday as federation allocation for the month of March.

Its spokesman, Stephen Kilebi, said that the money shared covered Gross Statutory Revenue of N497.448 billion; Value Added Tax (VAT) of N202.693 billion, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) of N14.488 billion.

Out of the money, the Federal Government received N276.141 billion, the 36 states of the federation received N232.129 billion, while the 774 local government councils received N171.257 billion.

Oil-producing states got an additional N35.102 billion as derivation fund (13 percent of mineral revenue).

Kilebi stated that the VAT revenue for March was N218.786 billion, showing a decrease from the VAT collected in February.

Minister hails Buhari’s approval of Benin, Sapele, Warri road reconstruction

Clem Agba, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the reconstruction of the Benin, Sapele, Warri road.

This is contained in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja issued by Sufuyan Ojeifo, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister.

Ojeifo said that the Minister gave the appraisal after the reconstruction contract was approved during Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

The Minister said that road sections were approved under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The report revealed a breakdown of the sections of the road that had been awarded for reconstruction.

“ Section one, made up of the 28.275 kilometre long Benin – Imasabor in favour of Messrs Levant Construction Company Limited in the sum of N98,916,451,227.28 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a 24 months completion period.

“Section two, made up of 38.525 kilometre long Imasabor-Ibada Elume in favour of Messrs GELD Construction Company Limited/Triata Limited in the sum of N127,648,926,047.37 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a 36 month completion period.

“Section three made up of 23.2 kilometre long Ibada Elume-Warri in favour of Messrs SKECC Nigeria Limited in the sum of N89,142,998,919.59 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a 42 month completion period”. (NAN)

NASS directs aviation minister to halt planned demolition of aviation offices in Lagos

The National Assembly, through its Joint Committee on Aviation, on Wednesday directed the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, to stop its planned demolition of the offices of aviation agencies in Lagos.

The directive is contained in a letter to the minister and signed by Clerk, Senate Committee on Aviation, Franca Mbah, and her House of Representatives counterpart, Bassey Edem.

The joint committee stated that the directive was the fallout of the two-day warning strike embarked upon by workers’ unions in the aviation sector.

They said that they are working hard to resolve the issues raised and, as such, requested that the minister halt the planned demolition of the aviation agencies’ headquarters and offices in Lagos pending the outcome of the committee’s intervention.

“The strikes have become many and too frequent to be let low even though the issues in contention are not new.

“Some have lingered for over eight years with several agreements signed between the unions and the government,” the joint committee said.

Report fingers substandard materials, quacks as causes of Banana Island building collapse

The Building Collapse Prevention Guild, in its report on the Banana Island building collapse, listed the engagement of non-professionals and the use of substandard materials as the major factors responsible for its collapse.

The guild, made up of professionals in the building and construction sectors, stated this after carrying out an on-site investigation of the collapsed building.

The guild stated that, as expected, the project board, which displays details of the nature of construction, names of clients, engineers involved, and other valuable information, was not there.

The guild also discovered that the size of the columns used in the building could not support the number of floors the developers were embarking upon.

The report said that there was also a conflict as to a number of floors specified in the construction drawing, which had yet to get approval from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) as of the time of the collapse.

Fox resolves Dominion case, but $2.7 billion Smartmatic lawsuit looms

Fox News on Tuesday disposed of one legal threat with its $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, but the network still faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from another voting technology company, Smartmatic USA, over its coverage of debunked election-rigging claims.

Dominion accused Fox and its parent company Fox Corp of ruining its business by airing claims that its machines were used to rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden and against then-then-president Donald Trump, a Republican.

Fox and its parent company Fox Corp averted a six-week trial in Delaware Superior Court with the deal, which is half of the $1.6 billion Dominion sought but still by far the largest ever defamation settlement publicly announced by an American media company, according to legal experts. (Reuters)