Business
Enugu seals 13 Hotels, private school for tax evasion (see hotel list)
Enugu State Government on Friday December 1, 2023, sealed up 13 hotels and one private school for non-compliance with their tax obligations and liabilities.
The hotels sealed include Top 10 Hotel, The Gate Luxury Apartment, Pentagon, Ekulu Green Guest House, Bontera Suite, Richmond Hill Suite and Maybach Hotel.
Others are ; La Virgin Suites & Residence, Stellacynthia Hotel & Suite, Octopus Hotel Ltd, D-Kings Planet, Mary Suite, Torrequebrada hotel,and Kesandra Hotel as well as a private school Divine Comprehensive Secondary School.
The action followed an order by the high court of Enugu State issued on Wednesday November 29 2023 by His Lordships Honourable Justice K. I Okpe-Judge.
The Enugu State Government, through Enugu State Internal Revenue Service approached the Court seeking an Order distraining the Respondent for failure to pay their staff PAYE tax, Development levy and Companies Withholding tax due to the state government for the period of 2015 to 2020 for some and 2018 to 2021 for others.
The Enugu Internal Revenue Service also request an Order authorizing it to recover the tax due from sealing the premises of the Respondent and sale of such goods distrained upon failure of the Respondent to pay the tax due and its costs and charges, incidental to the distress which was granted by court.
It was on this strength that the enforcement team of the revenue agency stormed the various defaulting hotels and school at early hours of Friday to seal them for tax evasion.
Addressing Journalists shortly after the exercise, Chairman of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, Ekene Nnamani said after a tax audit it was discovered that several institutions have not been meeting their tax obligations for the past seven years.
Mr Nnamani disclosed demand notices, warning letters as well as intention to sue have been served on the defaulting organisations but they failed to comply.
He said government will immediately unsealed their businesses after they show commitment of their readiness to meet their tax obligations and obey relevant tax laws of the state.
He noted that government cannot carry out any development project if citizens and businesses do not pay their taxes adding that sealing of business p
“We started our enforcement on tax payment and tax compliance this morning because several institutions in the state do not pay their tax as it’s supposed to be”.
“We did what we call tax audit on these institutions. We serve them demand notice. We serve them warning letter. We even serve them intention to sue them to court and when those things failed, we instituted a case against them in our courts, and after court have head our applications, they rejected some asking us to go and do more work on them, and then granted us an order for 16 corporate entities who have failed to comply with the tax laws”.. “And today, we started enforcement to seal those companies and demand immediate compliance to our tax liability.
“You know that sometimes people believe they cannot take the tax authorities serious. They believe sometimes they can get their way out. But this time around we are very much committed. We are proactive and we are diligent in what we are doing”.
“So this is not time for us to begin to say I know this person, I don’t know this person. Let them go and pay their tax and that is what we are doing currently. So our intention is not actually to destroy businesses, but to announce to the whole people of Enugu that we are not joking with our taxes. Pay your taxes”.
“For the companies we seal today. We are ready to unseal them immediately, if they commit to the tax liability and the payment of these tax liabilities. We don’t have any intention to disrupt their businesses because businesses is our life. Without businesses, the state cannot grow. But we just need to do that to send a signal. What we are doing currently is, bridging the knowledge gap, because some of these entities are unable sic…
“You know and Igbo man believes that when he has money, he has every knowledge. But a lot of events have proven that those who have the money do not have every knowledge. “So when you have a business, you should have professionals who run your business, who advise you the right way. Sometimes they don’t actually pay this tax. Simply because they have a knowledge gap.
“So, we’ll be bridging the knowledge gap from time to time. We’ll be also be engaging stakeholders in different industries in the state, having a town hall meeting with them, ensuring that if you fail to pay your tax, it is because deliberately you fail to pay not because you don’t know what to do. Where you think you don’t have the professionals that will help you compute your tax, we have people here in the board. We can dedicate one or two persons to support you, free of charge to ensure that you pay the right tax”.
He said sealing of business premises is the standard practice globally.
“ If you fail to seal companies, nobody will take you serious. Even in Lagos. last two weeks, Lagos sealed over 100 Companies in Lagos and they continue to seal on daily basis. It has not allowed businesses to leave Lagos. In Port Harcourt, the same thing. Enugu is also a big city. It will not affect our business but we don’t have intention to continue to disrupt their businesses.
“We are only calling their attention to come and comply with our tax laws. That is it. If they comply now we are unsealing it immediately. So that their business will continue to run uninterrupted.
By Chinedu Sabastine
ENUGU – Value Circle Africa (VCA), a marketing outfit dealing in organic food products, has launched operations in Enugu, promising to promote health and wealth creation among millions of Africans.
The company, which markets products including soya bean oil, swallow, fufu and Ganadima mushroom, said it was targeting 20 million Africans through its business model.
Speaking at the unveiling in Enugu, Chairman of VCA, Elder Dennis Ogbonnaya Nwankwo, claimed that participants who purchase products worth N65,000 could earn up to N550,000 over six months under the company’s reward scheme.
Nwankwo said VCA was an offshoot of Nature’s Renaissance International Limited (NRI), founded by High Chief Clinton Brown Odiagbe.
He explained that the initiative was designed to share the company’s profits with customers rather than concentrate its earnings on business expansion.
According to him, a participant who purchases products worth N65,000 would receive N50,000 initially, with subsequent monthly payments of N100,000, subject to the company’s stated terms.
He further claimed that an investment of N6.5 million could yield about N55 million within six months.
Nwankwo said the company manufactured its organic products and intended to use the proceeds to improve the financial circumstances and health of its customers.
“Every other company is marketing its products and making its profit. We manufacture our organic products, including soya bean oil, swallow, fufu and Ganadima mushroom.
“But we decided that we should not use the money to establish an airline or acquire more estates. Instead, we decided to share it with people around us,” he said.
He added that the company encouraged participants to reinvest their earnings to build sustainable financial capacity.
“We believe that if we continue to do this, we will also train people not to consume all the money they earn but to reinvest it. That is how we intend to wipe away poverty,” he said.
The VCA chairman urged interested persons to participate in the scheme, claiming that those who borrowed N65,000 to purchase the products could repay their loans from subsequent payments.
He, however, did not provide independently verified financial records to substantiate the returns being promised.
One of the company’s beneficiaries, Pastor David Ime Jesus, said he joined the scheme in June 2026 and had received payments under the arrangement.
“I began to invest in June and have been earning N100,000 every month since the initial N50,000 I earned in July,” he said.
Business
No Bad Blood Over New Cement Factories, But Our Mining Rights Run Till 2045 — Ibeto Tells Ebonyi Govt
ABAKALIKI, EBONYI STATE — Billionaire industrialist and Chairman of Ibeto Group, Dr. Cletus Ibeto, has clarified his position on plans by the Ebonyi State Government to establish a new cement manufacturing plant, saying he has no objection to fresh investment in the state provided his company’s existing mining rights are respected.
Ibeto, who is also a core investor in the Nigerian Cement Company (Nigercem), said the proposed development should not interfere with areas covered by valid mining leases held by his company.
“We are not against the establishment of new cement factories in Ebonyi State. However, such developments must not interfere with or overlap the specific areas where Ibeto Group holds valid Mining Lease Licences issued by the Federal Ministry,” Ibeto stated.
He said the company’s statutory mining leases covering limestone deposits in the Nkalagu axis remain valid until 2045.
Ibeto stressed the need for proper delineation and mapping of mining areas to prevent conflicts between existing title holders and new investors seeking to establish businesses in the state.
Under Nigeria’s legal framework, mineral resources are vested in the Federal Government, with mineral titles administered through the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and the Mining Cadastre Office.
Nigercem Ready to Resume Operations
Addressing concerns over the future of the historic Nigercem plant, Ibeto said Ibeto Group remains committed to reviving the facility and is ready to commence work once outstanding administrative issues with the state government are resolved.
He said the company’s position should not be interpreted as opposition to new investment in Ebonyi, stressing that his concern was the protection of legally acquired mining rights.
The development could pave the way for both the revival of Nigercem and the entry of new investors into Ebonyi’s cement industry, provided the respective mining areas are clearly mapped out and existing legal titles are respected.
Business
Patience Jonathan Hails Azikel Boss Eruani as ‘Small Boy’ She Mentored Into Billionaire League
She said her guidance was behind his bold entry into big business at a relatively young age.
The former First Lady spoke on Tuesday in a video which went viral on Thursday during an inspection tour of the Azikel Refinery in Obunagha, Bayelsa State, alongside other dignitaries.
She said she personally introduced Eruani to billionaire businessmen, Aliko Dangote and Aminu Dantata, and pushed him to aspire to their level despite being the youngest among them.
“He’s a boy that I brought up. We are always together. Although he’s the little one among us when we are friends — Dangote, Seyi, Dantata, Eruani — among us, he’s the smallest. But I made sure he followed the Dangotes, he followed Dantata.
“Because I’m a woman in their midst, I made sure I told this small boy, ‘Go and follow them, and stop the grammar.’ But when he told me that one day he would be like Dangote, I said, ‘You’re thinking too high.’ I prayed to God to grant him his heart’s desire,” she said.
The former First Lady also recalled how the immediate past APC administration under Muhammadu Buhari initially failed to grant Eruani a refinery licence before eventually approving three.
“During the Buhari administration, he and others came to me and told me they were going to apply for a refinery. I told him, ‘Eruani, your brother, the President, did not give you a refinery.
“Is it the APC government that will give you one?’ I prayed it would happen. But later, they came back and told me they had been given three refineries,” she said.
The 25,000 barrels-per-day plant is a private hydro-skimming refinery designed to process condensate into petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene and other products.
It is set to become Nigeria’s second-largest full-slate refinery and the first major privately owned refinery in the Niger Delta.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Samuel Ogbuku, who joined the inspection tour, commended Eruani for his perseverance, noting that he had attended the project’s groundbreaking ceremony eight years ago.
Ogbuku described the refinery as an inspiration and a potential catalyst for investment, job creation and economic growth in Bayelsa State, and urged residents, particularly youths, to key into the opportunities it would create.
He also praised the Bayelsa State Government for improving road infrastructure leading to the refinery site and called for continued support for the project.
Governor Douye Diri, who was represented at the inspection by his deputy, Peter Akpe, has consistently backed the project, which is expected to employ hundreds of workers and drive industrialisation in the state.
Other dignitaries at the event included the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Bubaraye Dakolo; Vice President of Azikel Group, Presley Asemota; and Isaac Yalah, among others.
A market check on Tuesday showed that NNPCL outlets in Abuja and nearby areas adjusted their petrol price from N1,155 per litre to N1,270 per litre.
The latest adjustment represents an increase of N115 per litre by the state-owned oil company.
The new price change follows recent increases by depot owners and petroleum marketers, who have adjusted their rates twice within a week.
The latest development also comes days after Dangote Refinery resumed the sale of refined petroleum products in dollars, a move that has raised concerns among industry players over the direction of fuel pricing in the country.
The Federal Government has disclosed that 13 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered in the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the licensing basket after failing to attract bids from prospective investors.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja.
Eyesan said that although 50 blocks were initially put up for bidding, prospective investors showed interest in only 37.
“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but we only had representation for 37 of those 50 blocks. Thirteen of those blocks will be returning back to the basket,” she said.
She further disclosed that 143 companies participated in the commercial bid process, submitting about 200 bids for the available oil and gas assets.
“We have a total of 143 companies showing interest for 200 bids. That, for us, was remarkable, and I must say thank you,” Eyesan stated.
According to her, nearly 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing round, which she described as a sign of renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
“When we started the journey, we got interest from almost 300 companies. I repeat, almost 300 companies. That, in my view, was an indication that the tide has turned for Nigeria,” she said.
She explained that the number of interested companies was reduced to 196 following the prequalification stage, before the process moved to the technical and commercial evaluation phases.
“From the almost 300 interests that we got, we moved to the pre-qualification stage, and that number was pruned down to 196,” she added.
The 2025 Licensing Round was launched on November 11, 2025, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, with 50 oil and gas blocks put up for bidding across seven sedimentary basins.
The assets comprise 16 Niger Delta onshore blocks, 18 shallow-water blocks, one deep offshore block, three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.
The bid portal opened on December 1, 2025, while a pre-bid conference was held in Lagos on January 14, 2026, to provide prospective investors with guidance on the bidding requirements.
Registration and prequalification submissions closed on February 27, 2026, with the prequalification process completed on March 16.
The NUPRC said winning bids are being determined through a weighted evaluation that considers signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security. The process combines technical and commercial scores rather than relying solely on financial offers.
The framework is aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s petroleum assets are awarded to investors with the financial capacity, technical expertise and operational strength required to accelerate exploration and production in the country’s upstream sector.
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