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Guber 2023: APC Youths Summon Akan Udofia

Published

4 years ago

March 2, 2021

…Warn Habitual Candidates To Stay Off

Editor

A Coalition of All Progressives Congress Youth in Akwa Ibom State has called on billionaire oil magnate, Mr. Akanimo Udofia, to consider contesting for governorship of the State come 2023 on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC.

Mr. Udofia is the CEO/Managing Director, Desicon Engineering Limited, an engineering, procurement and construction services company, one of the major service providers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. He was rumoured recently to have joined partisan politics on the platform of APC.

The APC youth coalition, which is an amalgamation of major political youth groups in the main opposition party in the State, made this call last Sunday, during its inaugural meeting at Akwa Ibom Renaissance Secretariat, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo.

In his welcome remarks, Mr. Anthony Bassey, the leader of Akwa Ibom Renaissance, urged youths to close ranks and objectively weighed antecedents of every intending governorship aspirant against the collective dreams of Akwa Ibom people.

He said the era of use and dump politics is over as youths are determined to assert themselves and get involved in every aspect of state development from electioneering to governance, adding that the decision to call on Mr. Akanimo Udofia to contest the 2023 governorship election in the State was reflective of current expectations of Akwa Ibom youths.

Governor Udom Emmanuel (l) with Mr. Akanimo Udofia (m) and Senator Godswill Akpabio (r) during an award presentation ceremony in 2018.

A communique from the group, made available to The Guide Newspapers further strengthened this position, which was reached after a reassessment of the chances of the party and the desires of the younger generation to raise the ante of governance in the State and Nigeria as a whole come 2023 and beyond.

Giving reasons for its choice of Udofia, the group stated that “the State at this time is in dire need of a governor whom the people can look up from his past and current development drive and economic pursuits and connections within and around the Nation and the world and can easily attract industries, capital investment and strong capacity and ability to harness his personal resources and wealth of business acumen to the wealth and resources of the State for the general good of all irrespective of party lines, religious affinity, social status and inclinations; a detribalized Akwa Ibomite, a national and internationally known and recognized figure who could break even at any stage in the world for the good of the State.”

It continued that “after a thorough, painstaking soul search, we have come to the inescapable conclusion and we vouch for MR. AKANIMO UDOFIA as such a person that possesses all the earlier listed qualities, credibility and charisma that will give us victory with ease and will not be a disappointment to our great party and state come 2023.

“His aspiration will boost our chances and help to add quality and value to our primaries and general Elections come 2023. We hereby extend the call to our illustrious and distinguished son to contest the 2023 general election as Governor of Akwa Ibom state.”

Mr. Anthony Bassey, addressing representatives of APC youth groups in the State during the meeting at Akwa Ibom Renaissance Secretariat, Uyo, last Sunday.

The youth coalition acknowledged President Mohammed Buhari’s efforts to enhance APC’s political capital in the State through various appointments of party chieftains in his government, which sadly failed to bring about notable political gain to the party hence it admonished [federal political appointees] to harmoniously work together to foster the positive nest of political gains in Akwa Ibom State.

Furthermore, the group warned habitual governorship candidates in the party to take a break and embrace change, noting that from past contests they have tested their popularity and known their strength “we also have come to know in real political participation paradigm their strengths and weaknesses hence we appreciate all they have built for the party and their followers’ strength at each congresses and general elections notwithstanding.

“It is our earnest position that owing to their antecedents and precedents in past elections we note that if they continue to work together and see more of the party good and push forward an acceptable more credible, younger, youth friendly candidate and push same for presentation to the Akwa Ibom people, it will be very easy for our great party to take over government”. The group posited.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

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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