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2023: I am loyal to President Buhari and the APC – Amaechi

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Presidental Aspirant on the Platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has expressed his loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC in his bid to run for the office of the President of Nigeria.

Amaechi spoke during a consultative meeting with executives, delegates and other party faithful at the Rivers State APC Secretariat on Friday, indicating that in his bid to become the President of Nigeria which he is thoroughly qualified for, he is neither desperate nor disloyal.


Presidential Aspirant, Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (right), with the Paramount Ruler of Rebisi Kingdom, Eze Victor Woluchem, during a consultative visit to the monarch in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Friday.

Amaechi explained that it is sad that many politicians do not understand the concept of loyalty. “Loyalty is not when you are not chosen, you become disloyal, loyalty means you follow the man that leads you, that you have surrendered to his leadership. If you don’t follow, it means you are not loyal, you are only benefitting from the man politically and economically. The day he’s not able to give you that economic reality, is the day you become disloyal.

“Let me tell you something about loyalty. In 2007, we were in a meeting and somebody asked me if Dr. Peter Odili (former Governor of Rivers State) says you will not run for the office of governor, what will you do? I said I will surrender and support whoever he brings. We fought the battle for me to be Governor because Dr. Odili called me and said ‘go to court,’ if not we had met as a group and said we would stand by his choice. But he called me and said ‘…go to court.’

“I am a very loyal person, and those who are disloyal, I wish them well, those who want to do whatever they want to do, I wish them well. The opportunity will be given to everybody, we will run this presidential election, we will run, and I am loyal to the President and I am loyal to the Party. If the party says it is me, thank God. If the party says it is not me, whoever the party chooses, I will support. If the Party and President chooses anybody, I will support the person, if the party chooses me, I will be glad and say thank God,” Amaechi said.

On his part, Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, Chief Emeka Beke, assured Amaechi of the party’s support and votes in the presidential primaries.

“Sir, go home and sleep, Rivers delegates will vote for you, and I know my brothers who are statutory delegates will vote for you, because all of us seated here today from Rivers State have benefitted from you, from your leadership and this is the time to pay you back. We will stand with you.”

“Let me use this opportunity to thank our brothers from other States, who have stood by our leader Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, I thank all of you. God Almighty will stand with you as you have chosen to stand by him.

“But one thing I will tell you is that our leader is a man of one word. When he says yes, his yes is yes, when he says no, his no is no, and I know that he’s a man that will not forget all of you that stood by him. By the grace of God you will be the presidential flag bearer, I will be the chairman that will produce Mr President, I will be the Chairman that will produce Governor of Rivers State,” he said.

Amaechi also visited the Paramount ruler of Rebisi Kingdom in Port Harcourt, Eze Victor Woluchem, who expressed delight over the Minister of Transportation’s decision to run for the office of President in 2023.

Eze Woluchem said, “You are our son in whom we are well pleased. On behalf of the traditional rulers here present, we welcome you to your home. This is not only your home, but it is also your pride and joy, because you once served here as a governor who looked out for Rivers people, your people.”

“Your excellency, Rivers State loves you for a reason. Your developmental projects has impacted and continues to impact our people and are all over the State for people to see.”

“I might not be able to enumerate all that you have done for this country. Nationally, as Minister of Transportation, you have put Nigeria on the map as a country with modern railway system, with modern Seaport and facilities to enhance our waterways and the industrialisation that comes with it.

“Indeed the history of this State will be incomplete without the mention of your name. Nigerians are excited over the likely possibility of a Rotimi Amaechi presidency. You are indeed a champion among equals, therefore there is no doubt that you are the right person to takeover the mantle of the leadership of this great nation come 2023”, the Monarch said.

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Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

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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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