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COVID-19 FCT Minister Charges Traditional Rulers, Council Chairmen On Community Sensitization

….As NCDC Boss applauds FCTA Over management of Pandemic
JOEL AJAYI
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has charged royal fathers and Area Council Chairmen in the FCT to take on the responsibility of educating and sensitizing residents at the grassroots level on the need to adhere to established protocols in the fight against COVID-19 in the FCT.

Malam Bello who spoke at an emergency COVID 19 meeting of stakeholders in the FCT including religious, traditional, and political leaders. The meeting also had in attendance the Director-General of Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID -19, Dr. Sani Aliyu amongst other participants.
He expressed the appreciation of the FCTA to the frontline health workers and called for a standing ovation for them for their efforts in the fight against the virus in the FCT.
Speaking on education and sensitization of residents at the grassroots level, Malam Bello said that the the onus of spreading the information of the virus at that level fell heavily on the shoulders on the Area Council Administration and traditional and religious institutions at that level.
While pledging the commitment of the FCT Administration to the fight against the virus, he said that defeating it required a collective responsibility by all and urged all the stakeholders to also play their part, by supporting the efforts of the Administration.
On her part, the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu warned against the stigmatization of COVID 19 patients who, she stressed did not deliberately seek to be infected and like the FCT Minister, she also called for the collective efforts of all stakeholders in the fight against the virus.
Dr Tijjani Aliyu also asked residents to disregard misinformation that the government was involved in the spread of the virus and said they should instead focus on curbing its spread through the obedience to extant guidelines of wearing face masks, maintain personal hygiene and observing social distancing.
She also reminded all the stakeholders on community transmission which was on-going and said it would take collective efforts by all to stop its spread.
In his remarks, the Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu commended the FCT Administration for the construction of the road leading to the National Reference Laboratory at Gaduwa, Abuja which he said has increased the efficiency of the facility.
Dr. Ihekweazu also commended the leadership of the FCT Administration for being proactive in its approach to battling the pandemic and also charged the traditional rulers on sensitizing the people at the grassroots level.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said that the best way to fight the virus is through an attitudinal change by the people. This, he said, is where the traditional and religious leaders come in through community engagement.
He disclosed that the virus was now in the communities, adding that the important issue residents should be concerned about is ‘staying alive’ while the pandemic lasts.
While briefing the meeting on the situation of the pandemic in the FCT, the State Epidemiologist, Dr. Doris John, gave an overview of the spread while also stressing on the rising level of community transmission.
She also stated that poor adherence to preventive measures increased the spread of the virus while late presentation of cases has led to an increased number of fatalities.
Dr. John, also mentioned that the major challenges faced by health workers in the fight against the pandemic is stigmatization and denial, myth, and misconception, confirmed cases refusing to be evacuated to treatment centers, low involvement of key stakeholders at the community levels, an increasing number of sick frontline health workers and the high number of imported cases to the FCT.
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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