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Gridlock in Nigeria’s Ports will Disappear Soon- Nigerian Shippers’ Council

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. ..As Council intensify plan To Digitilization of Shipping Process.
Joel Ajayi
The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barrister Hassan Bello, has assured that the gridlock typically experienced around Nigeria’s port corridors  will soon disappear, following rail deployement and evacuation from the port, as well as the digitalization of shipping, to ensure effectivenes and better service delivery.
He stated this on Thursday, during an interactive session with Journalists in Abuja saying, Nigeria is too big to rely on one mode of transportation.
Barrister Bello revealed that the arrangement is on top gear to make use of rail transport which will be more effective and financially beneficial for their operations in the country.
According to him, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has now encouraged rail deployment and also evacuation from the port and that will be a cheaper rate.
“Three days ago, we had a meeting with NRC, NPA, the terminals where we strengthened the issue of the Standard Operating Procedures for rail.
“The most important thing is to make sure ports are efficient because, if ports are efficient, then a lot of benefits will be accrued to the government and the entire Nigerians. Many sectors will say, I contributed a certain amount to the GDP and we want transport to also be contributing to the GDP.
“There is no doubt about it, transport drives the economy, and what are we talking about, it’s all about infrastructure, employment, content, and so on.”
Barr. Bello however, expressed that one of the challenges facing the Council in the country is over-dependency on-road transportation.
“Before now, we had some challenges with Nigerian ports, because of some distortions, our dependence on the road has caused us a lot and has made it impossible for transportation to make expected contributions to the economy in terms of revenue, employment, and infrastructure but this government is very serious, if not for COVID-19, we would not be having gridlock, we would have connected the rail to the port.
“No doubt, we have been having challenges, our dependence on the road has caused us a lot but this government is very serious now, the connection of the rail to the port is significant, we can’t rely on one means of transportation.
“And we have an alternative to road, so we will remove a lot of trucks from the road, which means the price of road transportation will crash very soon, in a time to come.
“Besides, FG has made a policy statement that all ports will be linked with rail, as I  said, if not for COVID-19, the Chinese construction company would have linked not only Apapa but also Tincan Island with the rail, that will happen and the moment we have inland connectivity, the gridlock in Apapa will disappear.
He said the Council is seriously working with relevant stakeholders to put in place modalities for the safe return of normal operation within all ports in the country.
NSC boss, therefore, commended the media for their efforts in projecting the image of the Council, urging them not to relent in their effort towards the progress of the Council that will bring about growth and development to every Nigerians.
He said, Council’s Cardinal points will be the digitalization of the port;  multi-modern approach to the port and multi-national co-operation, as well as 24 hours ports operation.
Speaking on the other achievement of the Council, Barr. Bello revealed that the Council is currently building a dry port in Ibadan, Kano dry port is ready and the Kano state government have earmarked money to construct good roads around the port, Kaduna is also doing well.
“As we speak, FCT has given NSC 104 hectares of land along Abaji-Lokoja that will generate more jobs to Nigerians when it materialise.”
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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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