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1st Taraba state Open B/Volleyball Tourney To Begin On Sept 16th

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Organizers of the 1st Taraba state Open Beach Volleyball Championship have revealed that the competition will kick off on September 16 and end on September 19, 2020.

 

The 1st Taraba state Open Beach Volleyball Championship will hold at the Jolly Nyame Stadium, Jalingo, Taraba state.

 

The organizer of the event who doubles as the assistant coach of Nigeria Customs Service women’s volleyball team, Jonah Adamu said the major aim of the championship is to develop, nurture and inculcate a high level of professionalism in the young players.

 

Adamu also noted that the championship, which is the first edition, is motivated by his passion and commitment to continue growing volleyball players in the North East and Nigeria.

 

“I will not stop until we have more volleyball players from the North East representing Nigeria at the age-grade tournaments and senior national teams. Taraba and other North-East states possess some of the tallest individuals in the country.

 

Explaining the decision to organize the event when the country just unbans non-contact sport, Adamu said the event will put the athletes in top shape ahead of any future championship coming up later in the year.

 

“The unbanning of the non-contact sports by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 made us organize this competition. It will give some of the senior players an opportunity to warm-up ahead of major national tournaments in the country”.

 

The former Ahly Tripoli of Libya player hailed the President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Engineer Musa Nimrod, Chairman of Nigeria Volleyball Referees Association, Sam Timothy, and others for the construction the Artificial Beach volleyball court in Jalingo, Taraba state.

 

“I want to appreciate the NVBF President, Engineer Musa Nimrod, Volleyball Professional Association of Nigeria (VPAN), Jackson Imadi, Ambassador in Diaspora, Tunde Omisore, and the Chairman of Nigeria Volleyball Referees Association, Sam Timothy for their support in constructing the Artificial Beach volleyball court in Jalingo Taraba state.

 

“I want to use this opportunity to thank the Sports Secretary-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Samuel Onikeku, and the coaching crew of the NCS Volleyball team for their support in ensuring the championship becomes a reality”.

 

Jonah Adamu played for Ahly Tripoli of Libya, Ted Ankara kolejliler Ankara of Turkey, Ziraat bankasi Istanbul of Turkey, Swehly volleyballer club of Libya, Al-Helal volleyball club Benghazi of Libya, Nasir volleyball club Benghazi of Libya, and Nigeria Customs Service of Nigeria.

 

He won nine Libyan league titles, eleven Libyan cups, and sixteen years with the Nigerian national team.

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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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