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2023: In Yobe, Emir of Damaturu, Governor Mai Mala Buni Solicit Support For Amaechi
The Emir of Damaturu, HRH Alhaji Dr. Shehu Hashimi, the Ibn Elkanemi the 2nd, has called on Nigerians to support the Presidential ambition of former Transportation Minister, Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, a frontline aspirant in the forth-coming Presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) slated for this weekend.
The Emir made the call while receiving the Presidential aspirant at his Palace in Damaturu, the Yobe State Capital, Monday.
He said, “I know much about you, I know the experience you have and the challenges you have gone through. With your track record, when you become the President, you will deliver as expected. I pray that you will be supported by Nigerians to be the President of this country.
“We will support you in prayer, we will support you in all aspects that we are able to, to see that you excel. The transformation of this great country seen under the Ministry of Transportation which you were the Minister, needs to be commended. We know the role you played and we know how much you have done, The Emir said.
During a courtesy call on the Yobe State Governor, at Government House Damaturu, Governor Mai Mala Buni said, with Amaechi’s pedigree, it would only be proper for Nigerians to support him to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the country requires someone who would continue in the implementation of the lofty policies of the present administration, hence the need to support the former Transport Minister.
“We need continuity and consolidation with innovation to ensure that what we are enjoying today as a nation would at least continue, because we cannot afford to start afresh, we cannot afford to risk having new hand…
“Your Excellency, you will agree with me that most of the developed nations were developed as a result of continuity of policy and programmes, unbroken chain of leadership. In Nigeria, a two-time Director General of a Presidential campaign and one of the most trusted and active member of cabinet, who has always been there for Mr. President to kickstart everything that will move the nation forward because all the campaign promises are on his fingertips, is fit.
“Like I said earlier, ordinarily you shouldn’t have come. You know we granted waiver to President Buhari in 2015 not to come, so we would have granted same to you, but as customary, you are here to interface with the delegates without taking the delegates for granted.
“Let me use this opportunity to thank you for the newly designed railway line which you took to my house. The design for the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line that goes up to Goneri, from where we turn into Damaturu, and from Damaturu to Gashua, and all the other areas you have touched. The history of the Buhari government cannot be complete without your name. We, here in Yobe appreciate you and we are always in support of you, Governor Buni said.
Similarly, at an interactive session with the party delegates, former Chief of Army Staff and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Burutai, said Amaechi should be supported because he has the courage to fight insecurity.
“I was opportune to be the Brigade Commander in Rivers State when he served as Governor. We worked tirelessly to ensure security and he is a man of many parts. He has also shown that capacity in other areas of administration which includes the doggedness and determination to ensure that our railway work again. What we need is to give him the delegates votes for him to get that ticket and be elected as President in 2023.
“I am part of his team because we want to champion a cause, a very worthy cause of someone who has shown capacity, who has shown leadership, who has shown the strength in terms of leadership where he started in Rivers State as Speaker of the State House of Assembly,” Buratai said.
In his address to the delegates, Amaechi assured of improved economy, where insecurity will be a thing of the past, if elected.
Business
Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

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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