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FG Seeks NURTW’S Support For Tackling Insecurity

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FG Seeks NURTW’S Support For Tackling Insecurity

Joel Ajayi

 

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called on the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to support the government in its ongoing efforts to rid the nation’s highways of violent crimes.

The Minister made the call in Abuja on Thursday at the 9th Quadrennial Conference of the NURTW.

According to him, let me use this important occasion to once again call on you to support this government as it evolves innovative measures to tackle the challenge of insecurity on our roads.

”The Union can specifically support the government in the fight against insecurity by providing timely information to the security agencies, particularly on all the black spots on the nation’s highways. Whether on intra or inter-state journey, your members
crisscross the length and breadth of this vast nation and, collectively, have great access
to information that can help to make our roads safer.

“As government continues to frontally tackle the menace of insecurity, it is incumbent on all of us to collaborate in order to address the kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of insecurity on our roads,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed, who said he is aware that the NURTW has borne the brunt of the years of infrastructural decay, especially in the area of roads, and insecurity on the highways, commended the organization for its abiding faith in the country as it has persevered against all odds.

He said the Buhari Administration is reversing the trend of insecurity infrastructural decay by evolving innovative ways to fight insecurity and making massive investment in the provision of critical infrastructure.

“The security agencies are adopting creative ways, including the deployment of technology, to stem the tide of insecurity on the highways. The government is also investing massively in the provision of critical infrastructure to enable you to discharge your duties effectively and efficiently. As a matter of fact, no government has invested more in infrastructural development than the Buhari Administration. As I speak, there is at least one federal road under construction in each of the country’s 36 states and the federal capital territory,” the Minister said.

He said the setting up of the $650 million Presidential Infrastructure Fund is aimed at accelerating the ongoing construction work on the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East-West Road, Abuja-Kano Expressway and the Mambilla Hydro-electric Project.

“There is no better demonstration of President Buhari’s commitment to deliver on critical infrastructure across the country,” Alhaji Mohammed.

The Minister also tasked members of the NURTW to always ensure the safety of their passengers by obeying all traffic rules and regulations, shunning drug abuse and thurggery.

 

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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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