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Democracy Day: FG Unveils Late MKO Abiola National Stadium Signage, Minister Applauds PMB

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Joel Ajayi

Federal government on Friday unveiled the Signage of Late MKO Abiola at National Stadium in Abuja  to honour the winner of the acclaimed June 12th 1993 presidential election Chief Moshood Abiola who was denied victory.

It will be recalled that in 2019 during the democracy day speech President Muhammadu Buhari renamed Abuja National Stadium as Moshood Abiola National Stadium, crowning the national atonement for the injustice of June 12.

At the unveiling of the signage in Abuja, the  Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare eulogised President Muhammadu Buhari for the honouring the former Pillar of Sports in Nigeria Chief Moshood Abiola, describing  the President as a man who chose to walk the path many failed to.

In his welcome address at the first anniversary of the renaming and the unveiling of the Moshood Abiola National stadium in Abuja, the Minister disclosed that the occasion was an attestation of the President’s vision and mission of giving recognition to worthy citizens while encouraging the younger generation to join him in building a “strong,  virile and indivisible nation”.

While also describing the late MKO Abiola as a great Pan Africanist and a great lover and promoter of sports, he said, “Abiola was a consummate sports lover. He invested his time and resources in sports development particular football. Not many sports administrators will forget Abiola in a hurry. 

“It is therefore fitting and proper for President Buhari to have named our national stadium, an iconic monument after such an illustrious citizen and a lover of sports. This renaming beyond its symbolism will remain a reminder through time of the indelible footprints Chief Abiola left in our political and sports development as a nation. 

“The naming of this stadium will serve to beckon to other Nigerians with ways and means like Abiola to emulate him and embrace, support and invest in sports development. 

“Under this dispensation we have seen Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Adebutu Kessington step up to the plate to support the government of President Muhammadu Buhari in the quest to restore our sporting infrastructure such as this. We thank them and several others supporting in their own little ways.

“We are grateful, first to God who has kept many of the actors and participants alive and most importantly to President Muhammadu Buhari who has demonstrated courage where other leaders before him failed and who has further validated his democratic credentials  by recognizing Abiola’s democratic value, apologizing for the political injustice and declaring June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day. He also honored and conferred on Chief Abiola with the highest honor of the land GCFR- post humorously.”

The President was represented at the occasion by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mallam Musa Bello as the Special Guest of Honour at the event while Kola Abiola son of the late Moshood Abiola represented the family. 

Other dignitaries at the occasion were the Minister of Trade and Investment Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of State for Labour and Productivity Barr. Festus Keyamo, DG NYSC Brig. General Ibrahim Shuaibu, General Secretary of the NFF Dr. Sanusi Muhammed, Chairman League Management Company Alhaji Shehu Dikko among others. 

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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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