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2023 Elections: Nigerians Condemn Violence, Call For Reforms, Probe

Published

2 years ago

March 23, 2023

… Blame FG for failing to tackle intimidation of voters

Irked by incidences of violence, vote-buying and other forms of election fraud in some parts of the country during the Governorship and State Assembly elections, more Nigerians have condemned the development while calling for probes and reforms ahead of future elections.

Local and International observers had condemned increased violence, voter intimidation and vote trading during last Saturday’s Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

Participants during PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, an anti-corruption radio programme produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, joined the long list of citizens and organizations frowning at the misconduct of the elections on Wednesday in Abuja.

Speaking on the credibility of the March 18 state polls, a Senior Program Officer, Kimpact Development Initiative, Oluwafemi Adebayo, stated that the elections fell short of the expectations of Nigerians owing to the violence that erupted mostly in the Southern part of the country.

Adebayo, while calling for an independent inquiry into the issues that undermined the credibility of the 2023 elections, emphasized that there is a need for a probe of the conduct of the exercise and activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“There should be an independent inquiry into these elections as regards the conduct of the elections. INEC, as an institution; there should be an independent inquiry into their processes, and I’ve been holding this back. Still, I think at a time like this, I support the aspect of holistic reforms, not just towards INEC. I think holistically. We need to look at the electoral system as a whole. There is a need to unbundle INEC”.

On election violence, He said, “For February 25, on the election day, there are 89 cases of violence that we (Kimpact Development Initiative) verified. In the March 18 election, there were 121 cases of violence recorded, and from what we have been able to confirm to date and on election day, we got over 97 of those incidents and with close to 121 victims.

“From our data, 87 percent of the violent attacks happened in the Southwestern part of the country, predominantly Lagos, Rivers”.

Adebayo, however, decried the failure of the Nigerian state to bring perpetrators of electoral violence to book over the years, which has continued to encourage violence and fraud during elections.

Reacting to the skirmishes and corruption that headlined the conduct of the March 18 state elections, a public affairs analyst, Sonny Akoh, condemned thuggery, bigotry and ethnic slurs that made their way into the 2023 general elections, lamenting that “Nigerians did not get the elections they deserve.”

Akoh hailed the resilience of the electorates in ensuring they participate in the elections and faulted the Federal Government for not doing enough to nip hate speeches, voter intimidation and threats of violence issued by associates of politicians on the board before and during state elections.

He noted that the system’s failure to punish electoral offences in the past had emboldened perpetrators of crime during elections.

Speaking on hate speeches and ethnic slurs that played out during the elections, Akoh said: “We have not seen any substantial arrest made in places like Lagos where it was more pronounced.

“We have seen cases where the Commissioner of Police said that somebody who has made a very strong statement that seems to be stampeding human rights was just “joking,” and for agencies like the Nigeria Orientation Agency, they have not been at their best.”

He called on the Judiciary to rise to the occasion ahead of a barrage of post-election litigations. As well as urging disenchanted Nigerians not to give up on participating in future elections.

“Nigerians shouldn’t give up. Are Nigerians tearing their passports? That’s the worst thing they should do; they should sustain this momentum,” Akoh stressed.

Nigerians who called into the programme decried the impact of violence and vote buying in the 2023 general election and joined calls for reform of the electoral system and for political offices to be made unattractive going forward.

Barr. Chidi Onwuekweikpe said: “The main problem we have is that politics in Nigeria is made very attractive. That’s why people kill to get there. We need holistic reforms so that whoever gets there will work. INEC should review their systems and make everybody vote on the same day.”

Project Assistant at Accountability Lab Nigeria, Mnenga Shiiwua, said: “The challenge is that politicians are ready to kill and maim just to get into office. The problem is monetary gain – this is the problem we should focus on.”

Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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