Featured

Excitement As Gov. Makinde Flags Off N28.36bn Street Light Project In Ogbomoso

Published

5 years ago

September 2, 2020

…Inaugurates 3km LAUTECH road reconstruction

Joel Ajayi

It was a galore of an exciting day for all the son and sundry of Ogbomoso indigenes As Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, flagged off the reconstruction of the three kilometers Under G-Stadium-LAUTECH 2nd Gate Road, Ogbomoso and the second phase of the Light-Up Oyo state project.

At an estimated cost of N28.36 billion, the provision of the street light to span 223.48 kilometers of the road across geopolitical zones of the state is expected to be completed in nine months’ time.

Under a Contractor’s Project Financing Scheme involving Messrs Ledco Allied Enterprises and the Oyo State Government, the state will provide an initial counterpart fund of N2.83 billion with a payment arrangement of the entire project sum that will span seven years.

Meanwhile, the three kilometers road to be reconstructed will however be a direct intervention of the state Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Speaking in Ogbomoso at the flag-off, Makinde said the state was committing N28.36 billion to the Light-Up phase two project in recognition of the importance of street lights to security and boosting economic activities.

With streets lit up, he noted that security agents will better function, while businesses can run for 24 hours.

He allayed fears on the cost of maintenance, noting that the lights, as in the Light-up phase one project in Ibadan, is energy-saving, powered by inverters for 9 hours and diesel for 3 hours.

“Who says we cannot have 24-hour restaurants, petrol stations and other businesses in Oyo State as it happens in other cities worldwide? These developments start with basic infrastructure such as street lights.

“As we kick off this project, permit me to give you an update on ‘Light Up Oyo’ Phase one which covered Ibadan. If you drive around Ibadan at night, you will notice that most of the streets are well lit. The lights used are energy-saving and also the cost of maintenance is low,” Makinde said.

Giving more details on the three kilometers road, Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Adebowale Balogun said the road will have hydraulic structures, line drains, culverts.

He added that the road will have pavement made of laterite sub-base, crushed stone base material, and 50mm asphaltic concrete wearing course.

In his remarks, Vice-Chancellor, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Professor Michael Ologunde noted that many residents had been subjected to hardship plying the road.

He held that the reconstruction will save residents, staff, and students of LAUTECH from the usual congestion and recurrence of accidents on the road.

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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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