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Government  Institutions Diverting Our Funds, PWDs Cries Out

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Joel Ajayi

Leaders of different groups of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have alerted President Muhammadu Buhari that government institutions are defrauding and diverting funds meant for their development and wellbeing.

 

The alarm was raised by participants during a special town hall meeting against corruption, organized by Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation on Thursday in Abuja.

 

The well-attended meeting was held on the heels of a report by the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) that indicted the Women Affairs and Social Development Ministry for spending N275 million on non-existing rehabilitation institutes meant for PWDs.

 

The Executive Director of Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), David Anyaele raised the alarm that government institutions in the country have persistently diverted scarce funds allocated for the development and wellbeing of PWDs, stressing that corruption in Nigeria has become a systemic problem.

 

Anyaele said that it was worrisome that ministries, departments, and agencies of the government failed to heed to the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari on the welfare of PWDs. According to him, despite Buhari asking MDAs during his June 12, 2020 broadcast, to take appropriate measures to ensure PWDs are included in their programs, activities, and employment, nothing has changed.

 

On the impact of corruption on PWDs, he said: “The PWDs are begging on the street, they are not going to school, it is state-induced, they are using PWDs to retirement funds in the public sector.

 

“In all the states, there is monetary provision. If you go to all the ministries of women affairs there is provision for PWDs but by the end of the day, no money goes to anybody. No PWDs go to the Craft Center for the Blind, and Rehabilitation,” He lamented.

 

Anyaele, however, was not optimistic that the recently established National Commission for Persons with Disabilities will curb corruption to a measurable height.

 

Similarly, the Coordinator, Violence Against Person with Disabilities (VAPP), Ene Ede revealed that the establishment of the commission will not make much difference because it lacks independence.

 

Her words: “I want you to remember that the commission is also under a ministry and you cannot divorce the commission. In a situation where we are unable to scrutinize our leaders, holding them accountable will be difficult.”

 

She added: “corruption circle is systemic, which is sustained by elites, civil service, and the politicians. Civil servants give orientation to politicians.”

 

Ede who expressed her dissatisfaction that PWDs are defrauded by government institutions warned that the extent of corruption has reached the level of impunity urging President Buhari to lead by example and address accountability and transparency in the public sector.

 

Yekeen Akinwale, Journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), faulted the federal government’s silence on several investigations indicting MDAs.

 

According to Akinwale: “Uptill now, there has been no response from the ministries and personalities despite being indicted.”

 

He, however, said it was expected that anti-graft agencies, National Assembly, and the Presidency would have taken action against officials at the Women Affairs Ministry indicted in the report while assuring that the situation will not deter ICIR from publishing corruption reports in the future.

The participants commended PRIMORG for giving voice to the PWDs and scaling up the fight against corruption.

 

The PRIMORG’s Radio Town Hall Meeting Against Corruption series is supported by the MacArthur Foundation

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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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