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NEWSAN trains members on budget tracking for sanitation policies implementation

Published

5 years ago

September 4, 2020

By Mustapha Suleiman

As part of efforts to improve access to potable water and sanitation in the country, the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) has trained its members on budget tracking and holding tiers of government accountable for non-implementation.

This was disclosed by NEWSAN National Coordinator, Mr Benson Attah at a workshop held in Abuja.

Attah stressed the need for its members to contribute their quota in holding local, state and federal government accountable in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.

Attah noted that building capacity of its members would strengthen partnerships in the implementation of water and sanitation projects across the country, just as he urged states CSOs to monitor governance and also find legal backing for WASH interventions and formulation of state road-maps for ending open defecation practices in their localities.

“We have come to realise that part of the factors contributing to the poor implementation of the water and sanitation programe is due poor accountability at both the federal, states and local government levels.

“We have seen instances where boreholes were dug and they had to use water tankers to fill the overhead tank for its commissioning.

“Some projects as soon as they were commissioned collapsed due to the use of inferior materials and such communities never benefited from such projects.

“We have seen cases where contractors were given money to build sanitation facilities, toilets in schools and they were not completed and left abandoned with open-suck away pits”.

He noted that these issues further contributed to the underdevelopment of the citizens, adding that water and sanitation were an entry point to development, health, education, commerce among others.

While commending its partners, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) for supporting its activities, Attah said lack of transparency at different levels, limits the extent to which partners can hold each other to account for mutual commitments.

He said there was the need for the three tier of governments to see that access to water and sanitation were improved upon, adding that stakeholders ought not to compromise in achieving better livelihood for the populace.

Earlier, Mr Emmanuel Awe, Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, noted that it was worrisome that only 11 per cent of the population had access to (WASH) services nationwide.

Awe said although the Federal Government had demonstrated high political will to improve access to WASH facilities through its numerous programmes, but more needs to be done in the states if Nigeria is ready to meet its targets.

Dr Elizabeth Jeiyol, National Coordinator, WSSCC Nigeria, said it was imperative that a sustainable system be instituted and supported by the government to encourage CSO engagement for effective WASH governance, saying without governance, WASH services remain unsustainable.

She said,“CSOs need platforms to build capacity and resources to carry out crucial role by holding policymakers accountable and ensuring that budgets are spent and policies are formulated within the right context and sustainability.’’

He called on governments to create enabling environment to support and engage CSOs in policy formulation through access to state structures for citizen participation and attainment of SDGs targets in Nigeria.

In her good will message, the national coordinator, Water Supply And Sanitation Collaborative Council, Elizabeth N. Jeiyol, at the workshop commended the inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) to be part of the training, which according to her, is in consonance with the objectives of the WSSCC to achieve sanitation and hygiene leaving no one behind.

She noted that interacting with the public and private sectors and strengthening capacity building for CSOs for rapid WASH policy assessment, advocacy, mutual accountability mechanism (MAM), and WASH governance is crucial in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to her, this will boost stakeholder engagement and participation in ensuring universal access to water and sanitation services.

Speaking on the essence of the workshop, she said it will help build technical capacity to analyze policy, track budgets, and engage with the government and donors through advocacy.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week 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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