Featured
CSO Kicks Over Tinubu’s Alleged Comments on PMB, Calls for Security Checks
A pro democracy civil society organisation, Save Nigeria Movement, and think tank has observed with dismay the arrogant and boastful disposition of the National Leader of the APC and presidential candidate for the 2023 general election.
In a press release signed and made available to journalists in Abuja at the Charity House by Convener of the group Rev. Solomon Semaka, the group insisted that recent comments attributed to self styled National leader of APC Tinubu smack of desperation and poses a great threat to our nascent democracy as well as the cohesion of the APC as a party. It also threatens the unity of the country should Tinubu have his way to the presidency.
“Tinubu’s desperation is getting out of hands.
Barely three months ago during his nationwide consultations, he was quoted to have said he was willing to get dirty to become president of Nigeria. Tinubu insist he was out to achieve his life long ambition to rule Nigeria . Recently he has been pointing accusing fingers at law abiding citizens and calling them betrayers because they chose to follow their minds or aspire for same position. This is unhealthy for democracy”, the statement insisted.
His spurious claims of making Buhari president and insisting that the presidency must be zoned to the Yoruba ethnic group and must be given to him at all cost is not only unpatriotic but treasonable as Nigeria is nobody’s personal estate to be so traded.
Mr. Tinubu’s rants about who should be the next president are immoral except he is threatening Nigerians with bloodshed should he not be voted into power. In as much as he has every constitutional right to vote and be voted for, it is dangerous for a presidential candidate to make such wild claims. Does he plan to break Nigeria if he does not get the APC ticket? Will Nigerians be safe if he wins, since everyone is a betrayer? Could Tinubu be trusted with the security of Nigeria and Nigerians?”, the group queried.
The group warned that Bola Tinubu who is used to doing his wish in Lagos for decades should understand that Nigeria is not Lagos and he cannot expect people to catch cold when he coughs as Lagosians do. The humiliation former governor Ambode suffered in his hands is enough to make Nigerians wary of his leadership style that is characterized by arm twisting and bullying.
“Tinubu must know that his gentleman agreement with Buhari (if any) is not binding on Nigerians. His outbursts betrays any iota of trust left with him. He must stop seeing Nigeria with the eyes with which he saw Lagos and plundered it. The years of impunity are over and the people’s voice must be heard above all the deafening noise of bullies”, the statement added.
The CSO equally challenged Tinubu to explain how he got the money he has been bragging he used in sponsoring almost everybody he claims to have established in politics. Tinubu has enjoyed his fair share of political privileges and patronage deserving of his service and should not act as if he is an emperor with absolute powers from beyond with which he can make and destroy.
“A tree does not make a forest. While Tinubu has been instrumental to leadership change in the last couple of years, he has equally enjoyed political goodwill in the appointments of his associates among which are Rauf Aregbesola Sunday Dare, Babatunde Fashola, Tunde Fowler and many more. It is impossible for Tinubu to have singlehandedly made Buhari President and Osibanjo Vice President so he should stop boasting”, the group countered.
Why calling on security agencies to invite and question Tinubu over his unpatriotic comments, the CSO called on all Nigerians to roundly reject the candidature of Tinubu as he has shown himself to be vindictive and vengeful in his utterances and precedents, insisting that somebody who is this desperate can bring anybody who did not support him down and use his office to settle personal scores.
“Security agencies have a huge task to contain the time bomb by inviting Tinubu to extract certain commitments in the interest of the nation.” His desperation portends imminent danger for all of us.
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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