Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja, that the vice president made the pledge when he received a delegation from the World Bank at the Presidential Villa.

He said “I think it is very important, at least this is what we are trying to do, to keep our sights on what would work for the majority of our people. The truth, of course, is that we have fossil fuel resources, we have all of that, but we have energy issues, distribution and quality of access to energy, as well as clean energy. So, those are the issues; access to energy and education, then renewable energy, and how to be able to move quickly enough in terms of putting renewable energy in place,”

The vice president also highlighted funding challenges for developing countries in its response to climate change and preparation for adaptation, alongside other implications of the Paris Agreement.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Vice-President spoke while representing President Buhari virtually at a forum organised by the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.

He said “There are also efforts going on therapeutics of various kinds. The development of vaccines, tests and therapeutics these days is aided by automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence; so, this is a strong point of synergy between science and engineering. I think the pandemic has truly opened up the immense talents and creativity of Nigerian scientists and engineers and if the current momentum is supported, the next few years could be incredibly exciting”

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande who disclosed this in a statement titled “25m Nigerians to own 5m solar systems at N4,000 monthly” and released on Sunday, November 29, added that the Federal Government’s plan of commencing the process of installation of five million solar home systems in underserved and off-grid communities across the country is in continuation of the implementation of the government’s Economic Sustainability Plan.

Akande said “An important aspect of the scheme is the option of outright ownership by beneficiaries at a cost ranging from N1, 500 per week to N4, 000 monthly depending on the capacities, for a period of three years. The programme will include the assembly or manufacturing of components of off-grid solutions to facilitate the growth of the local manufacturing industry. In view of the scale of materials required, solar equipment manufacturers/assemblers will be incentivised to set up facilities in Nigeria, thereby offering additional job opportunities to Nigerians. In addition, installation, servicing and payment collections are expected to provide thousands of other jobs. In all, at least 250, 000 jobs will be created.”

The Osinbajo – led Economic Sustainability Committee had stated that it was working out a stimulus package that would take the country’s economy out of global recession to positive growth in 2021.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, posted a video on Twitter on Tuesday , showing Osinbajo in a video conference meeting.

The tweet read, “VP Osinbajo has been busy today holding video conference- based meetings with IMF and World Bank representatives on how the agencies can collaborate with President Buhari ’s forthcoming additional economic stimulus packages . Video shows just – concluded meeting with World Bank Nigeria reps.”

The Vice President who disclosed this at the 5th edition of Airtel Touching Lives in Lagos, said they included a social safety initiative to specifically address poverty, among other things in the party’s manifesto.

A statement released by Osinbajo’s Senior Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande reads “Listening to each story of a life touched this evening must remind us of the many others who need our help, our comfort and our kindness. The poor and vulnerable always need a voice. In 2014, Mr Wale Edun, Prof. Pat Utomi and I met at Pat’s home to write portions of the manifesto of the APC. We all agreed that a fundamental pillar of our party’s plans must be to create a social safety net for the people. We were convinced that government owed a duty to the poor, the weak, the vulnerable and those who cannot work. Social safety nets are not merely acts of sovereign kindness; they are a sovereign obligation – a responsibility.”

According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s media aide Laolu Akande, some of the items include locally produced sanitary pads, food additives and table water.

The full statement reads;

“In a bid to ensure that the cost of living does not rise for Nigerians because of the changes in the Value-Added Tax, several basic food items, locally manufactured sanitary towels, pads and tuition relating to nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary education have been added to the exemption list of goods and services on the VAT under the Finance Bill 2019, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari last week, on the 13th January 2020. Amongst other benefits, the law will consolidate efforts already made in creating the enabling environment for improved private sector participation and contribution to the economy as well as boost states’ revenues. According to the President, “the Finance Bill will support the funding and implementation of the 2020 Budget. We shall sustain this tradition by ensuring that subsequent budgets are also accompanied by a Finance Bill.”

Below are the details:

The Finance Bill, 2019 was submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari alongside the 2020 Appropriation Bill and signed into law by the President on January 13, 2020.

The Bill, now an Act, has the following objectives:

Promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation;
Reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices;
Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with the administration’s Ease of Doing Business Reforms;
Raising Revenues for Federal, State and Local Governments.

FACTSHEET ON NEW FINANCE ACT 2019

The new Act is the first legislation created to accompany an Appropriation Act since the return of democracy in 1999.

The new Act raises VAT from 5% to 7.5%.

To allay fears that low-income persons and companies will be marginalized by the new law, reduce the burden of taxation on vulnerable segments, and promote equitable taxation, the Finance Act 2019 has extended the list of goods and services exempted from VAT. The additional exemptions include the following:

Basic food items – Additives (honey), bread, cereals, cooking oils, culinary herbs, fish, flour and starch, fruits (fresh or dried), live or raw meat and poultry, milk, nuts, pulses, roots, salt, vegetables, water (natural water and table water)

Locally manufactured sanitary towels, pads or tampons.

Services rendered by microfinance banks

Tuition relating to a nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Nigeria’s increased new VAT rate of 7.5% is still the lowest in Africa, and one of the lowest anywhere in the world. (South Africa VAT: 15%; Ghana: 12.5%; Kenya: 16%; Egypt: 14%; Rwanda: 18%; Senegal: 18%)

Under Nigeria’s revenue sharing formula, 85% of collected VAT goes to States and Local Governments. This means that the bulk of additional VAT revenues accruing from the increase will go towards enabling States and Local Governments meet their obligations to citizens, including the new minimum wage as already noted by State Governors. Before now, the Buhari administration had firmly resisted previous suggestions to raise VAT.

The new Finance Act exempts Businesses with turnover below 25 million from VAT payments.

Companies Income Tax (CIT)

Under the new law small companies – companies with less than N25 million in annual turnover are charged Zero CIT.

CIT for Companies with revenues between N25 and N100m (described in the Act as “medium-sized” companies) has been reduced from 30% to 20%

Large companies – with an annual turnover greater than N100m – will continue to pay the standard 30% CIT

The new Act includes a provision that grants to all companies “engaged in agricultural production” in Nigeria “an initial tax-free period of five years”, renewable for an additional three years.

The new Act also provides incentives to promote tax compliance through bonus reductions in CIT for early remittance:

2% bonus for medium-size companies

1% bonus for other companies.

Personal Income Tax Act

The new Act now includes “electronic mail” as an acceptable form of correspondence for persons disputing assessments by the Tax Authorities.

Contributions to Pension and Retirement Funds, Societies and Schemes are now unconditionally tax-deductible.

Stamp Duty Act

With the new Act, the N50 Stamp duty charge is now applicable only to transactions amounting to N10,000 and above, a significant increase on the former threshold of N1,000.

The new Act also expands the list of items exempted from stamp duty.

Customs and Excise Tariff

To reduce unfair advantages previously conferred on imported goods at the expense of locally manufactured ones, certain imported goods are now subject to excise duties similar to locally manufactured goods

In the letter released by Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesman, the vice-president said it would be insensitive for him to attend the award ceremony in the light of the travails of Omoyele Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow movement.

The letter reads:

”I am extremely grateful for the recognition and award of the “Integrity Specialty of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism’s Anti-corruption Defender Award of 2019” to me. The award, I note, is for our Justice reform efforts in Lagos State. I had accepted the award with pride on behalf of the excellent Justice Sector team we had. However, two reasons explain my absence. First is that I am currently in Abu Dhabi for an international meeting under the auspices of the government of the UAE where I am the keynote speaker.  Second, in view of the development on Friday in the Sowore case, I think it would be insensitive and inappropriate to attend the ceremony. Please accept my heartfelt apologies and extend the same to the other members of the organizing team. God bless you.”

Earlier today over 2,399 tweets were deleted from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s account amid its unverification. The suspension and deletion of tweets took place between Friday night August 9th and Saturday morning August 10th.

The Presidency however in its statement over the Twitter drama, blamed it all on hackers. The Vice President’s media aide, Laolu Akande alleged that there were failed external attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Twitter Account. He stated that they are now in contact with Twitter, securing the account and forestalling a reoccurrence.