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FCTA Commended For Reduction Of Maternal Mortality Rate

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Joel Ajayi

The FCT Administration has been commended for its efforts in the reduction of maternal mortality rate in the FCT, through the implementation of the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) project of the Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON).

This commendation was made by the President of SOGON, Prof. Oluwarotimi Akinola when a delegation of Executive members of the  Society paid a courtesy visit to the FCTA

He revealed that the Society introduced the MPDSR in 6 health facilities of the FCT, namely Nyanya, Bwari, and Kwali General Hospitals and the Primary Healthcare centers at Kwali, Gbadalape, and Kogo adding that the implementation of the MPDSR project in these areas has reduced the maternal mortality ratio in the FCT to below the national average.

According to him, in Bwari Area Council, the maternal mortality ratio was reduced from 504/100,000 in 2014 to 468/100,000 in 2019, while maternal mortality was reduced from 317/100,000 in 2014 to 221/100,000 in 2019 in Nyanya, while the figures dropped in Kwali Area Council from 329/100,000 in 2014 to 268/100,000 in 2019.

He revealed that the national average in 2008, 2013, and 2018 was 545/100,000, 576/100,000, and 512/100,000 respectively.

Professor Akinola also commended the FCTA for the establishment of a budget line for the MPDSR programmes in the FCT, adding that the FCT was the first state in the country to do so.

While thanking his guests for the commendation, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello reiterated the commitment of the FCT Administration to the development of primary healthcare centers in the FCT.

He informed them that in furtherance of efforts to improve services at the primary Health care level, the FCTA recently employed 203 volunteer midwives and Community Health Extension workers and called on the Society to work very closely with the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCTA and the Office of the Hon. Minister of State for the continual provision of maternal healthcare services to the women of the FCT.

The FCT Minister also appealed to medical doctors not to embark on strike actions especially as the world is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that those most affected by industrial actions are the more vulnerable members of society including women requiring maternal care.

Speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Health Hon (Dr) Tanko Sununu had commended the FCT Administration for the construction of the road leading to the offices of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the National Center for Disease Control.

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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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