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FG Charges Regulatory Agencies To Check Exploitation At Seaports

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Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike  Rotimi Amaechi has charged regulatory agencies to reduce the cost of doing business by checking the exploitation of operators at seaports.

The Minister who gave this charge at the 2020 World Maritime Day Celebration with the theme: ‘Sustainable Shipping for Sustainable Planet: The Nigerian Dimension: in Lagos, pointed out that the objective behind the Secured Anchorage Area (SAA) has been defeated with the exorbitant charge of $1500 a vessel per day.

Giving the welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, urged,“ participants and resource persons not to see the annual event as a mere celebration for the congregation of who is who in the maritime industry, but should be taken as a reflective period to focus on developing the maritime sector”.

In the keynote address, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, disclosed that it’s been five years since President Buhari, joined other world leaders at the 70th Session of the UN to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of 17 SDGs on the universal call to end poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure peace and prosperity by the year 2030.

She called on stakeholders in the sector to capitalize on available local resources and invest in infrastructure and machinery that are economically and physically in line with the aspirations of the SDGs.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Maritime Transport, Sen. Danjuma Goje,  who was represented by Sen. Tolu Odebiyi, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT,  Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Hon. Linda Ikpeazu, in separate remarks, advised that the recommendations reached be backed by policy and action.

The Director-General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashiri Jamoh, in his presentation assured the International community that with the Anti-piracy Act, Nigeria is now repositioned to fight piracy and change the narrative following recent statistics by IMO that the country’s waters are the most dangerous to trade-in.

Other presenters encouraged the development and coordination of the Blue Economic policy, the use of scientific and verified information for the development of the maritime sector.

They further pointed out that the major threat to marine life emanates from land, adding that the country should consider turning the land wastes into recyclable and reusable energy.

The participants came out with a communique which among other things emphasized that SDGs are germane to the maritime industry and in this regard, urgent measures towards diversifying the economy away from oil revenue is apt.

They also reiterated the need to develop regulations for the implementation of relevant IMO instruments to forestall the effects of climate change and pollution on the marine environment.

NIMASA was directed to provide a platform for marine incident reporting and information sharing; training and retraining of seafarers in line with internationally acceptable standards; the collaboration between government and privately-owned maritime training institutions was advised.

The event had in attendance the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Chairmen and Board members of agencies, representatives of Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian Navy and other stakeholders in the maritime sector.

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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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