Featured
Jigawa Gov. Pledges Support To Cash Transfer Routine Immunization Programme

…Presented with Merit Award as Champion
Acknowledging the successes recorded in increasing immunization coverage and reducing infant deaths from vaccine preventable diseases in Jigawa State, Gov. Badaru Abubakar has pledged to support an iNGO, New Initiatives in its Conditional Cash Transfer programme
The iNGO, known in Nigeria as “All Babies Are Equal Initiative” is providing cash to mothers as incentives to encourage them to take their children for routine Immunization.
Governor Badaru who was responding to a brief during a courtesy call on him by officials of the NGO, promised to keep collaborating with them as well as other donor partners .
He said such collaboration would improve public healthcare delivery for sustainable social and economic development of the state.
He described the activities of the Initiative as classical example of investment in Human Capital Development that could enhance social and economic development of any given society.
Briefing the Governor earlier, leader of the team who is also the Stakeholders Relations Director, Mr Nura Muhammad disclosed that over 110,000 infants had been enrolled in the State for which more than #327 million provided as direct cash transfer to infant caregivers.
Each caregiver, he said, receives N500 for each of the first four routine immunization visits and N2,000 for the fifth immunization visit.
“New Incentives also supports existing routine immunization systems by engaging in vaccine supply review, supporting top up of vaccine transportation, participating in supportive supervision, capacity building of health workers and conducting vaccination advocacy with religious and traditional leaders.
‘There is strong evidence that our intervention is making a significant impact in increasing demand for routine immunization in the communities where we work.
“Considering the impact of the initiative at four selected pilot local government in Jigawa state, Your Excellency we urged you to advocate and promote the “Cash Transfer Incentive for Routine Immunization” program at Nigerian Governors Forum.”
“We are optimistic that, if routine immunization coverage increased in the North and Nigeria at large, the National Indices for Child Mortality rate would certainly drop down,” Nura declared
Revealing further, the success story of the iNGO, Nura said it was named a GiveWell Top Charity in November 2020 and based on the recommendation of GiveWell, it is being funded to the tune of $16.8 million USD over the next 3 years to reach more than 600,000 caregivers and their infants in Jigawa, Katsina, and Zamfara States
He urged the Governor to therefore assist the NGO in convening a joint program update meeting of Katsina, Jigawa, and Zamfara State Governors in Abuja assuring its willingness to host the meeting.
Nura also requested the Governor to consider becoming an advocate of Conditional Cash Transfers for Routine Immunization, especially defending conditional cash transfers programs among health stakeholders at national level.
The visit featured presentation of merit award by the iNGO to the Governor as CHAMPION of conditional cash transfers for routine immunization in recognition of his effort and commitment towards routine immunization and primary health care services in Jigawa state and the country at large.
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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