H e a r d n e w s

 Read the press statement below... Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has said that the Federal Government was planning to impose more hardships on Nigerians by increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) from the current five per cent to 10 per cent, describing the move as insensitive to the plight of Nigerians who are suffering from the bad economic policies of the President Mohammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress (APC) government. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had said on Thursday, in Lagos that the current five per cent VAT rate in the country was very low, and went on to add that the Federal Government would increase the taxpayer base this year. Reacting through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said any increment in VAT or any other tax being paid by Nigerians at this time will further make life unbearable for the people. “Nigerians are suffering and the little that they have, federal government is planning to take b

 *CBN appoints 2 super agents for financial inclusion By Babajide Komolafe The Bankers Committee has said that the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country requires adjustment on the part of every Nigerian. Addressing journalists at the end of the Committee’s meeting in Lagos on Thursday, Managing Director/ Chief Executive, GTBank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje said that the Committee is of the opinion that foreign exchange situation calls for adjustment on the part of everybody. Naira-Dollar He spoke in company of Director, Banking Supervision Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Tokunbo Martins, Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Nwankwo, Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs Tola Somefun and the Acting Director, Corporate Communication Department, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor. Agbaje said, “The reality on the ground is that we are coming from  $115 per barrel oil price to somewhere around N37 per barrel. We all have to ma

 LEICESTER City’s re­markable surge towards the title shows no signs of slow­ing up after battling to a 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Sunderland at the Stadium of Light yesterday. Jamie Vardy’s second-half brace – the striker’s first league goals since Febru­ary 14, seven matches ago – proved to be the difference between the two teams. Claudio Ranieri’s men have now won their past five league games without conceding, picking up their 14th clean sheet of the cam­paign yesterday. They have lost just three of their 33 league games so far. With five games left, Claudio Ranieri’s unfash­ionable side need a maxi­mum of nine more points – or three wins to become English champions for the first time. Their supporters stayed inside the ground well af­ter the final whistle chant­ing “we’re gonna win the league” and it now seems only an astonishing collapse will stop them from lifting the trophy. Sunderland remain deep in trouble in the relegation zone, though, four points fro

 Samson Folarin The family of Iseoluwa Omomowo, a final year student of Technical College, Ikorodu, Lagos State, who disappeared after withdrawing money from an Automated Teller Machine, has lamented police’s alleged reluctance to track down his abductor. His stepbrother, Dr Omoteyinshe Oluwole, who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Sunday, said one of the victim’s phone numbers that had been unreachable, was now active. He added that a man who picked the call claimed to have Omomowo with him, adding that the man did not allow any of the relatives to speak with him. PUNCH Metro had reported that the 27-year-old Ilaje, Ondo State indigene, lived with Oluwole in the Ebute-Meta area of Lagos State. Our correspondent reported that he had returned home after a vacation from school. He was asked to withdraw money from the ATM penultimate Saturday, but he did not return home. The case was said to have been reported at the Denton Police Division. Oluwole said the family members were

 Afeez Hanafi A 21-year-old suspected robber, Akeem Popoola, says a police inspector attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, uses him to swindle unsuspecting victims. He said he had worked for the policeman, identified as Inspector Festus, aka Ijaya, for about four months before he was arrested. The carpenter, who is currently in custody at the Agbado divison, Ogun State, was arrested for robbery and burglary. A mattress and speakers of a sound system were reportedly recovered from him in the Giwa area of Agbado on April 6. He told PUNCH Metro that apart from burglary, he used to collect phones from the inspector and he would later sell them. He added that Ijaya and two others – Abbey and Aluko – would get the buyers arrested minutes later for buying stolen items. Akeem said their victims paid Ijaya between N120,000 and N150,000 before they were released, adding that he got N5,000 as his share on each ‘deal’. “In November 20