Featured

Ease of Doing Business: FCTA To Harmonise Overlapping Laws

Published

5 years ago

December 19, 2019

Joel Ajayi

Minister, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said that the FCT Administration is working towards harmonizing overlapping laws and regulations within the various Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) that were militating against the ease of doing business processes in the FCT.

This, he said, could be achieved with collaborations of all stakeholders.

The Minister disclosed this at the FCT Technical Workshop and Engagement Forum on Ease of Doing Business, held in Abuja. He further said that improving the ease of doing business was at the root of Nigeria’s recovery and growth plan of the current administration with a significant progress already recorded in the last four years.

He explained that Abuja being the mirror of the country must, therefore, be a model in the ease of doing business agenda of the Administration that should be emulated.

The Minister reiterated that he was optimistic that with consistent dialogue and focus on ultimate goals, in a few years to come, processes and interventions will be institutionalized to ensure that the FCT becomes a model.

He also expressed the desire for a small working group involving key agencies within the FCTA and the Area Council Chairmen to resolve issues rose at the workshop, stressing that all businesses and services ultimately, are domiciled in the Area Councils.

Malam Bello explained that whatever intervention done at the highest level, if it does not trickle to the Area Council level where businesses are domiciled, the effects would not be felt.

He stressed the need to institutionalize the ease of doing business initiative as that was the only way the reforms will take root and flourish. . He added however, that with continuous work on improving steps, over a period of time, the reforms can be sustained and institutionalized.

Malam Bello also commended the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), adding that the purpose for its establishment was justified and so far the organization has done the country proud.

He assured the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, that the FCTA will partner with her team so as to ensure that the laudable objective of the initiative comes to fruition.

Earlier, in her presentation, Dr. Oduwole said that the Ease of Doing Business initiative correlated with the priorities of the Federal Government because it is linked with security, the economy and the anti-corruption crusade of the government. In her words; “When people have jobs, they are occupied and are less likely to be doing what they shouldn’t be doing” she continued; “Ease of doing business is linked with anticorruption because when people have jobs and are making money, there is less need for corruption”.

She said that the ease of doing a business intervention is intended to change people’s perception that it is difficult to do business in Nigeria and to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks so that businesses can thrive. This, she said, is being done through a reduction in the cost and the time it takes to do business.

While commending the FCTA for improvements in its Ease of Doing Business profile, the Presidential Aide stressed the need to do more, especially in the area of enforcing contracts.

Stressing the need for collaborations amongst organizations in the FCT, Dr. Oduwole said that once there are strong collaborations and patience among partners, the ease of doing business initiative will be institutionalized and owned by the people.

She said: “There is a need for collaborations. We need to break down the silos. When organizations come together to work, there are chances for greater success. But there is also a need for patience. The decay did not happen overnight and will take time to resolve. Time to build strong collaborations and institutions”.

The workshop had in attendance top management staff of the FCTA including the Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, the Permanent Secretary, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa and the Executive Secretary, FCDA, Engr. Umar, Gambo Jibrin.

Share on Facebook

Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

3 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.

Share on Facebook