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Buhari’s Visit: Over 100 pro-democracy groups score Yahaya Bello high on projects

Published

2 years ago

January 3, 2023

…Urge security agencies to invite politicians who celebrated Thursday explosion for questioning

Over 100 pro-democracy groups in Nigeria have called on politicians in the country to shun direct or indirect acts of terrorism that could work against a smooth transition process this year.

The activists specifically expressed serious concerns over alleged utterances and activities of some politicians in Kogi State following an explosion in Okene on the day President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state to commission legacy projects of the state government, noting that Governor Yahaya Bello should rather be celebrated for executing so many impactful projects during his administration.

They made their positions known at a press conference, in Abuja on Tuesday, convened after a new year gathering of over 100 pro-democracy groups with more than 3,000 members, which took place in Lagos on December 31. The event was tagged: “2023 polls: Call for Caution”.

Co-conveners of the “Call for Caution”, who jointly signed the communique issued at the end of the Lagos deliberations of the pro-democaracy groups, and presented it to the press on Tuesday include: Comrade Olufemi Lawson, Executive Director, Center for Public Accountability; Madam Gift Yusuf,
Secretary, Northern Women For Democracy and Justice; Barrister Benjamin Emeka Igwe,
Member, Steering Committee, CUPP; and Hon. Razaq Eyiowuawi, National Vice Chairman, Southwest, African Democratic Congress.

They noted that the array of impactful infrastructural projects, some of which were commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in Kogi State, last Thursday, had exposed what they described as campaigns of calumny against the Governor of the state as “simply unfounded.”

“We would not even have taken an interest in Kogi State this much if the President’s visit had not exposed a case of deliberate misrepresentation of facts on ground by those who the people of the state should regard as their enemies. We want to categorically state that the campaign of calumny against the state governor is unfounded and those who sponsored the dastardly act on the day the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria visited the state, either remotely or directly, must be fished out and dealt with decisively,” they said in a communique jointly signed by the co-conveners.

According to them, if these kinds of actions are not nipped in the bud, other politicians across Nigeria with the same mindset would set the country on the brink of collapse even before the elections are conducted.

The coalition noted that the likes of Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a Senatorial candidate in the state who allegedly gave out casualty figures of the bomb blast on social media even before police preliminary investigations, and other politicians said to have celebrated after the deadly attack, ought to have been invited by security agencies for questioning.

“What we joke with in this country cannot be allowed in other climes. It is a crime against the President and the whole of Nigeria and not against Governor Yahaya Bello or Kogi State alone. Security agencies cannot joke with this,” they stressed.

The activists called on stakeholders in Kogi State to caution Akpoti-Uduaghan to desist from uttering inflammatory statements and further heating up the polity at the expense of the people.

“We view with serious concern the recent bomb blast at Okene in Kogi State that coincided with the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari which was apparently to disrupt the President’s schedules or paint a picture of an unsafe state. It was a dastardly crime no doubt, but more dastardly was the actions of some politicians in the state allegedly celebrating the bomb blast. We state unequivocally that security agencies must fish out those unpatriotic politicians for questioning.

“In all, we call on politicians and those saddled with the responsibility of seeing to the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigerians to rise up to the challenges we have currently in the country, ensure free and fair elections and also deal decisively with those instigating violence, either with fake news or unverifiable allegations.”

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

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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