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COVID-19 FCTA Releases Guildelines On Easing Of Lockdown In FCT

Published

5 years ago

May 2, 2020

The Gleamer

…Remain Where You Are For Now, FCTA Tells Satilite Worker

…Pledges Vigorously Enforce of Partial Lockdown Regulations

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has released the guildines for the gradual ease of lockdown in the Capital City of Nigeria.

Also, the Minister of FCT asked all workers who reside outside the FCT have been directed to remain in their respective States of residence until the ban on interstate travel is lifted

To this end, FCTA has promised to vigorously enforce the overnight curfew from 8:00pm to 6:00 am and in order to prevent possible patients of COVID-19 from coming into the Territory, will also enforce very strictly, the ban on interstate travel.

In his message to the residents of the FCT, announcing the new guidelines, on Saturday in Abuja the Honourable Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello said that security agencies have been mandated to arrest and prosecute, through the mobile courts, anyone found contravening the guidelines.

Below are details of the guidelines as issued by the FCT Administration:

Based on HE President Muhammadu Buhari’s National Address, the sector specific guidelines issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service of the Federation as well as the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on the phased easing of the lockdown, the following guidelines are hereby issued in the first instance, from 4^th -17^th May 2020:

OVERNIGHT CURFEW

“An overnight curfew will be applicable in the FCT from 8:00pm till 6:00 am.”

PARTIAL RESUMPTION OF CIVIL SERVANTS

“Effective from Monday, 4^th May 2020, all civil servants in the FCT on Grade level 14 and above are to report for work 3 times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between the hours of 8am and 2pm.

“All officers on essential duties are to carry on with their assigned responsibilities.

“All workers are to maintain safe distancing protocols of at least 2 meters and wear face masks at all times.

“Temperature checks and hand sanitizing protocols should be strictly adhered to at all entry points and access to offices tightly controlled.

“Number of visitors and customers are to be limited to enforce social distancing guidelines

“All workers who are not resident in the FCT are directed to remain in their respective States of residence until the ban on interstate travel is lifted”

MARKETS AND BUSINESSES

“Extant guidelines on market operations for sale of food items only remain in effect. Markets are to operate for two days in a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 8:00am and 3:00pm

“Neighbourhood selling points will be established in various parts of the city to decongest the major markets

“Wearing of face mask is mandatory to gain access to markets in addition to hand washing and sanitizing protocols.

“The above hygiene related protocols are also applicable to supermarkets and neighborhood markets.

“Banks are to open between the hours of 8:00am and 2:00pm and are to observe temperature checks, hand sanitizing protocols as well as the use of face masks for staff and customers

“Banks are to limit access by customers to allow for safe distancing reasons and limit the number of staff working on their premises to between 30% and 50%.

“Residents are encouraged to patronize online banking services as much as possible

“Extant rules regulating restaurants and eateries remain in effect. Restaurants are not open to the public and are encouraged to adopt home delivery services. Similarly, eatries are to practice the take-away system and are to maintain all hand sanitizing, face covering and safe distancing protocols

“Pharmacies may remain open overnight and are to observe all other protocols as enunciated above.

“Companies involved in food processing, drug manufacturing and construction can commence operation, subject to following the approved health and safety guidelines

“Operators of these facilities are mandated to refuse access to anyone not observing the hygiene protocols.”

PLACES OF WORSHIP
“The extant directive on places of worship still subsists and they remain closed.”

RECREATIONAL AREAS/FACILITIES/EVENTS

“All clubs, bars, gardens, beer parlors, recreational parks, communal sports facilities, movie theatres etc in the FCT remain closed.

“Ban on social congregations such as parties, weddings etc remain in force”

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

“Prohibition of commercial motorcycles within the FCC remain in force including Kubwa and Dutse Alhaji

“Tricycles are to limit their activities to areas already designated and are allowed a maximum of 3 persons (driver and two passengers)

“Taxis are mandated to carry a maximum of 4 persons at a time (driver and 3 persons)

“Buses are to reduce occupancy at any time to 50% of installed capacity

“All bus stops and motor parks are to maintain environmental hygiene and officials of the parks and bus and taxi operators should provide temperature checks and hand sanitizing points at the parks and bus stops. Face covering is also mandatory. They are to operate only between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm daily.

“The FCTA will enforce very strictly, the ban on interstate travel. Vehicles conveying goods such as agro products, petroleum products, medical supplies, relief and construction materials as well as courier and security services would be allowed entry subject to the permitted designation in the FCT.”

SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

“All schools in the FCT remain closed until further notice. Schools are not permitted to commence third term operations in any form until directed otherwise by the relevant authorities.

“Schools are however encouraged to continue with e-learning and virtual teachings.

MEDICAL ADVISORY

“Residents are once more reminded that COVID-19 can be fatal and all are hereby advised to take all prescribed measures to avoid contracting it. Persons with underlying medical conditions especially hypertension, diabetes, asthma and low immunity are advised to remain at home. Equally, Persons 65 years and older are also advised to remain at home.

“Use of face masks by residents in all public places is mandatory.

“All business owners and government institutions are hereby directed to de-contaminate their premises, prior to re-opening.”

However, FCT Minister Bello has directed all the security agencies for full of the enforcement order; “the security agencies have been mandated to arrest and prosecute anyone found to be contravening any of these guidelines through the mobile courts.”

FCT Minister reminded residents that COVID-19 is a very serious ailment that can be fatal and there was the need for residents to follow all laid down health protocols.

He also thanked public spirited individuals, associations and corporate organisations who made very generous donations for the provision of palliatives to those most in need in the Territory.

Malam Bello equally thanked volunteers who devoted their time and resources in fighting the pandemic especially the journalists who made appearances on the various radio and television stations to educate residents of the FCT on their personal and collective responsibilities in the fight against COVID-19.

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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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