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AKSG Partners Bank Of Industry In Training NG-CARES Enumeration Agents.

The Akwa Ibom State Government in collaboration with the Bank of Industry has organized A One Day training programme for State Enumeration Agents towards the support of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state.
The event took place on Tuesday 2nd March, 2021 at Edinan Hostel, Uyo.
In his opening remarks, The Honorable Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport and Chairman, Akwa Ibom State COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Steering Committee, Mr. Akan Okon, explained that the training exercise was to equip the Agents with the skills to identify and capture the MSMES that will benefit from the NG-CARES grants.
The Chairman who noted with dismay the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on MSMEs and the entire country’s economy, thanked the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel for his relentless efforts in revamping the State’s economy.
According to him, the World Bank Programme has 3 Results Areas with different areas of concentrations.
“The Result Area 1 focuses on improvement in the livelihood of our people, that is, the poorest of the poor in our society.
Result Area 2 focuses on Agriculture with the view of improving food sufficiency and security, while Result Area 3 focuses on Small/Medium Enterprises which is the area of their concern “
Mr. Okon particularly appreciated Governor Emmanuel for providing everything that was needed for the success of the training and the Bank of Industry for their supports.
He encouraged the 150 Agents drawn from the 31 local government areas of the state to take the training programme serious, assuring them that the knowledge they have gained shall be useful to them at every point of their lives.
The Honorable Commissioner, Ministry of Trade and Investment, and member of the state Steering Committee for NG-CARES, Prince Ukpong Akpabio, while welcoming the Agents, maintained that,
” the training is expected to provide the field Agents/Enumerators the opportunity of learning the processes of identifying the affected MSMEs and capturing all the required data/GPS in the Bank of Industry platform”.
Prince Akpabio who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Mr. Oliver Udoukpo, asserted that the training will ensure that the real and targeted MSMEs are properly captured to enjoy the grants.
He commended the World Bank and the Bank of Industry for the cooperation in putting up the training to enable the State participate in the programme.
On his part, the Team Lead, Bank of Industry, Goodness Adewale, thanked the State Governor for creating an enabling environment for their Program to succeed and urged the enumerators to pay attention to their trainers so that they would be able to perform creditably well when they get to the field for the exercise.
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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