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COVID-19:NNPC Support FCT With 70 Bed Hospital

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Joel Ajayi

Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has joined the rest of well-meaning Organization to boost the fight against pandemic COVID-19 in the Federal Capital Territory FCT having agreed to donate 70 hospital located at Utako District of the City, currently under renovation when it completed.

This was made known on Friday, 15th of May, when the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello led a delegation from the FCTA on a courtesy visit to the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari at the Corporation’s  Headquarters in Abuja.

 FCT Minister, in his remarks also acknowledged and thanked the NNPC and the entire oil and gas industry for their support to the FCT in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He equally acknowledged the positive role the NNPC has played in the development of the city over the years and the Corporation’s plans to develop a world class medical facility in the Territory.

Towards meeting this objective, Malam Bello   revealed that the Corporation has been allocated a piece of land at the proposed Abuja Medical City Development Project located at the Phase 2 development area of the city for the construction of the medical facility in conjunction with its partners in the oil and gas industry.

Malam Bello said that on completion, the medical facility will also serve as a development catalyst for the area just as the NNPC Towers has attracted development to the Abuja City Center after its construction over 20 years ago.

 In the Minister’s words, “when reputable organisations like the NNPC and associations in the  oil and gas industry set up a project, it will serve as a magnet that will attract other investments and we will all be the better for it”

He also revealed that an international financial multilateral organisation of which the Federal Government is a shareholder along with 26 other African countries has also been allocated a plot for the construction of a center of excellence for the provision of medical services also at the Abuja Medical City Development Project.

 
Speaking earlier, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Malm Mele Kyari who led the FCT delegation on a tour of the 70 bed hospital which includes 10 Intensive  Care Units,  commended the FCT Administration for its efforts in handling the COVID-19 pandemic in the Territory saying that the medical personnel of the FCTA, despite the challenges posed by the Coronavirus always responded promptly and professionally whenever their services were required.

Malam Kyari also used the occasion to reveal that the NNPC had plans to construct a world class international convention center in the city saying that the existing ones were inadequate.

 On the entourage of the FCT Minister were the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, the Chief of Staff to the Minister, Malam Bashir Mai-Borno, the Executive Secretary of the FCDA, Engr Umar Gambo Jibrin and other senior staff of the FCT Administration.

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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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