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Police Following Due Process To Oust Impostors From IPMAN Office- Sanusi

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Alhaji Sanusi Abdu Fari, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on Saturday reacted to the alleged invasion of the office of the IPMAN which is allegedly occupied by Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, who also claim to be the President.

In a statement signed by the National  Publicity Secretary and Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, High chief Ukadike Chinedu, the President said the Inspector-General of Police has merely followed due process and ensured that tenets of democracy and rule of law prevail over sheer force, impunity and falsehood.

The IPMAN boss described Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and his corhorts as  band of impostors, who have continued to bleat about and cry wolf over a monumental lie they have tried to perpetuate since 14th December, 2018 when the Supreme Court delivered judgment in the IPMAN leadership crisis.

He declared that Elder Okoronkwo have continue to impersonate the office of the national president since 2014 till date, challenging him and his team to point out one line in the judgment of the apex Court which affirmed him and Alhaji Danladi Pasali as National President and National Secretary respectively of IPMAN.

But, in a swift reaction, Elder Okoronkwo said he is has a legal backing as the authentic President of IPMAN to occupy the office, based on Supreme Court judgement of 14 December 2018 wherein he was declared the winner of the case between him and Lawson Obasi, the esrtwhile President of IPMAN.

Okoronkwo said he was yet to understand where Alh. Sanusi Fari, who claimed to be the authentic President of IPMAN is drawing his strength from, stressing that his name was never joined as a party to the suit between him and Obasi Lawson.

“Now, where is Fari coming from? I defeated Obasi his master. Based on the judgement of the court Obasi has paid N2 million through his lawyer to me. Not only that, after all these Supreme Court judgement, last year 2020, Obasi went to court in Abuja here, based on that Calabar matter,  to say I am an impostor, the court dismissed his matter” he said.

Fari’s statement reads in part “The National President of IPMAN, Alhaji (Engr.) Sanusi Abdu Fari, and members of his Executive speaking through the national publicity secretary/ public relation officer  High chief UKADIKE chinedu said the NEC Committee are grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Inspector-General of Police, the management of NNPC and the FCT Police Command for showing abiding respect for due process and rule of law.

“Most unfortunately, true to their name and antics, one Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and his band of impostors have continued to bleat about and cry wolf over a monumental lie they have tried to perpetuate since 14th December, 2018 when the Supreme Court delivered judgment in the IPMAN leadership crisis.

“We hereby challenge Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and his rabble-rousers to point out one line in the judgment of the apex Court which affirmed him and Alhaji Danladi Pasali as National President and National Secretary respectively of IPMAN. Nothing is further from the truth!

“A lie repeated a thousand times does not transform into truth! It is common knowledge that the judgment of the Supreme Court in Appeal No. SC/15/2018 was interpreted and applied by the Federal High Court, Calabar in a judgment delivered on 21st February, 2019 in Suit No. FHC/C/CS/3/2019. “That jusgment in conjunction with the judgment of the Supreme Court put to rest the leadersbip dispute in IPMAN as they affirmed the provision of the 1997 Constitution of the association that the Deputy National President automatically becomes the National President!

“The apex court stated the constitutive instrument to determine the tenure of office is the ipman constitution which provides three years tenure for national Executives.

“It is worthy of note that following the judgment of the apex Court and the judgment of the Federal High Court, Calabar, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources wrote their respective letters dated 20th May, 2019 and 27th January, 2020 recognizing Alhaji (Engr.) Sanusi Abdu Fari as the National President of IPMAN.

“The Inspector-Genral of Police has merely followed due process and ensured that tenets of democracy and rule of law prevail over sheer force, impunity and falsehood. It is worthy to reiterate the obvious fact that Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and his henchmen are impostors and they ought to know that their luck will sooner or later run out!

“Chinedu Okoronkwo have continue to impersonate the office of the national president since 2014 till date .

“We thank the Police and other security agencies for their courage in tackling the challenges posed by these impostors and taking steps to make right, that which has been wrong all along!

“We hereby call on all members of IPMAN to embrace peace and be law-abiding as ar vow to continue to cooperate and work closely with the Federal Government and other stakeholders to ensure that peace prevails in the downstream sector of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry!”

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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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