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Anti-Corruption: PRIMORG urges FG To Ensure Adherence To Procurement Law

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… urge Bauchi Govt to intervene in alleged extortion of A.D. Rufai College of Education students

 Joel Ajayi

Worried by rising cases of fraud in public service, stakeholders in the anti-corruption campaign have urged President Bola Tinubu to leverage the enforcement of procurement and assets declaration laws to advance Nigeria’s anti-graft war.

The anti-corruption stakeholders also chastised the management of A.D. Rufa’i College of Education, Legal and General Studies, Misau, Bauchi State, for extorting students in the name of different fees without providing services to the students.

They called on the state governor, Bala Mohammed, to intervene and bring the fleecing of the students to a halt as soon as possible.

Co-Publisher/Managing Editor, Wikki Times, Ajibola Amzat led the call during an anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja. 

Amzat, who was speaking on the need to promote integrity and anti-corruption norms by the government and citizens, asserted that enforcement of public procurement, Freedom of Information (FOI Act), and assets declaration laws can help the Tinubu-led administration better advance the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

He noted that Nigeria is not in short supply of laws that prevent or tackle corrupt acts but is suffering from lack of enforcement and consequence for actions.

“Corruption is worsening in the country because people are not punished appropriately for their crimes; leaders are not accountable to the masses.

“There are different ways the president (Tinubu) could tighten the system and prevent corruption, and it can be by ensuring public officers adhere to procurement laws, FOI Act and assets declaration at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“Because when you look at the rising number of corruption cases since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, you will wonder if anti-graft agencies are doing their jobs, but there are enough regulations that should check bad behaviours in the public sector,” Amzat stressed.

Speaking on an investigative corruption report published by Wikki Times indicting the management of A.D. Rufa’i College of Education, Legal and General Studies, Misau, Bauchi State of extorting students in fees payment, Amzat called on Governor Bala Mohammed to intervene as soon as possible.

He regretted that integrity and standards are falling in Nigerian society right from the family structure, which is a manifestation of booming corruption in the public sector. He added that “parents, religious bodies, institutions and CSOs should prioritize the teaching of ethics.”

Similarly, Programme Officer, Integrity Organisation, Maria Gowon also called on the Federal Government to create a good framework for enforcement of anti-corruption laws.

According to Gowon, the National Ethics and Integrity policy and other laws can be leveraged to fight corruption, whether it is in the public or private sector, noting that application and enforcement of these laws remain the main challenge.

To promote integrity in the country, she urged President Tinubu to lead the line in Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight, while urging citizens to report cases of bribery and procurement fraud.

“I believe it begins with a very strong tone at the top among the leaders at Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, I believe ethical training and integrity training are good practical steps.

“There should be capacity building, teaching of ethics and rapid response to corrupt acts by officials in the public sector in order to deter others,” Gowon stated.

She, however, urged students in tertiary institutions across the country to emulate students of A.D. Rufa’i College of Education, Legal and General Studies, Misau, Bauchi State and report all forms of extortion by the management of their institutions to journalists.

Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

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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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