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NCF Vows To Deliver More Value To Cricket Community

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Joel Ajayi

When the newly elected board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), under the able leadership of Prof Yahaya Ukwanya assumed the office two years ago, the board equivocally pledged that its priority was to focus more on development of the game cricket in the country.

The mother luck may have played a significant role in the success story so far, even unrepentant critics of the present leadership of the NTF would agree that the board have brought positive motion to the aspirations and ambitions with regards to cricket game in Nigeria through the robust improve programs that have no doubt brought the physical growth and development of the game in the country and beyond.

Speaking on the occasion of two years in office which coincides with the International Cricket Council ICC visitation to Nigeria on the 360 review tour in Abuja on Monday the  NCF President Prof. Ukwanya said the federation would leave no stone unturned to ensure the speedy growth of the game in Nigeria and in the world.

He assured that the present board would continue to do our possible best to deliver value to the Nigeria cricket community and create a conducive environment for our young talents to thrive.

According to him, so much has been learned on this journey so far and the board can say that it has been as challenging but with the development of the game.

“We are able to have a constitution through a deliberation approved by all stakeholders for entire practitioners of the sport.

“We have improved in some major areas that we have not done enough in the past years.

One of this area was facilities these have been a big challenge but we have done some work both in Lagos and in Abuja, two of our pitchers are right now up 70%  playing standard completely.

“In the area of facilities, we are trying to provide facilities that can attract international competition in the country. We are going to improve on regional facilities this is where most of the development programs are being taken place.”

Another area that we have improved on is Development; “we are targeting 10,000 children every year.  As we speak enrollment state by state is going on. We are looking at making cricket available to more Nigerian we have been walking on increase playing numbers of new children playing cricket, As a matter of fact, the volume of cricket played in the last two years has been increasing.

“We are engaging ourselves in the team’s building for both male and female team from Under-19 to National team. We brought new philosophies that will make our player to go out there and represent our country and make us proud.”

He added: “Our Domestic competitions have improved Nigeria now attend more competitions in the past two years.”

“I will not forget our financing, administration that we use to recorded huge failure in the past, we indeed work so hard to ensure there transparency and accountability to all stakeholders and even to the ICC.

Not to forget the recent award of the best for development programmes in Africa at the ICC award in Nambia by Nigeria.”NCF President equally commended the relentless media, who have been very gracious in covering and documenting our every step.

He equally urged all the stakeholders, the state government to join the federation by investing in the game which will bring growth and development to the country.

Ukwanya thanked entire board members whose entire actions have contributed so much to the success of this administration so far.

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Business

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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