Alhaji Isyaku Mohammed, the Executive Chairman of the state’s Internal Revenue Service (KT-IRS), gave the clarification while briefing newsmen in Katsina on Monday.

Mohammed was reacting to a social media post that alleged a lack of number plates had affected revenue generation in the state.

“KASROTA are terrorising the people for not using number plates, in spite of the fact that they know there’s no number in the state,” Mohammed quoted the posting.

Mohammed explained that officials of KASROTA were simply doing their job by enforcing the rule that no vehicle or motorcycle should be on the roads without a number plate.

He said, contrary to the claims, the state government generated over N20.8 billion in Internally Generated Revenue between Dec. 1, 2023, and Dec. 30, 2024, through PAY direct payments by banks.

Mohammed said that before he assumed office in Nov. 2023, the organisation generated only N9 billion from Dec. 1, 2022 to Dec. 30, 2023.

“I wish to inform you that we have number plates in the state. The issue of saying we don’t have does not even arise,” he said.

He provided evidence of the number plates available, including 1,444 motor vehicle private number plates, 228 for government motor vehicles, and 214 government motorcycle number plates.

“We have 1,886 number plates for motor vehicle commercial, and for motor vehicle dealer number motorcycle we have 24.

“Also, since August 2024, we have deposited N45 million with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in anticipation of more motorcycle number plates,” he said.

According to him, this is a nationwide issue, and the complaint made by the FRSC was a lack of resources to fabricate motorcycle number plates.

He explained that Gov. Dikko Radda had reduced the price of number plates by 50 per cent in September 2023, but not many people showed interest.

“But for somebody to say we don’t have number plates, it’s not true, we have. I don’t want anybody to use that as an excuse to break the law.

“We have been pursuing people in the IRS who have tampered with the money of the revenue service, therefore we expected corruption to fight back.

“And definitely, we have seen that corruption is fighting back,” he said.

The Federal Government has approved four airlines as official air carriers to transport intending pilgrims for the 2025 hajj pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Executive Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Prof. Abdullahi Usman, made this known in a statement by the commission’s Assistant Director, Information and Publication, Mrs Fatima Usara, on Sunday in Abuja.

Usman explained that the four airlines were selected out of the 11 companies that submitted applications to transport Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Muslims pilgrimage.

According to Usman, the four approved airlines are Air Peace Ltd., Fly-Nas, a Saudi Arabia designated airline, Max Air, and UMZA Aviation Services Ltd.

The NAHCON boss stated that the airlines were screened and shortlisted by a team of 32 members that were inaugurated by the NAHCON on Nov. 26, 2024.

He said that the composition of the Aviation Screening Committee included representatives from State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, three members from Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and one member each from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

He also said that some members of the committee were drawn from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).

Similarly, Prof. Usman said that one member each was drawn from Nigerian Customs’ Service (NCS) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

Others, he listed, were NAHCON Board members representing each geo-political zone of the country, NAHCON Heads of Aviation, Procurement, Legal, Internal Audit, and Special Duties as well as Board Member representing the Aviation industry.

The NAHCON boss also disclosed that three excess cargo carriers were selected for the hajj operations.

He named them to include; Aglow Aviation Support Services Ltd, Cargozeal Technology Ltd and Qualla Investment Ltd.,

The Chairman, who congratulated the successful companies, urged them to fulfil their responsibilities as promised during the screening.

Meanwhile, Prof. Usman signed the 2025 Hajj Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on behalf of the Nigerian Government.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was represented by the Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr Abdulfatah Masahat, at the signing ceremony.

The event was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to formalise this year’s Hajj engagements.

Some health stakeholders have said that Nigeria’s Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), which serve as the backbone of the country’s healthcare system, are in dire need of revitalisation.

The stakeholder said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, (more…)