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Christie Adejoh crowned champion of Past lBB Golf Lady Captains Tournament in Abuja

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Joel Ajayi

Former past lady captain of IBB international Golf and Country Club, Christie Adejoh, on Saturday, emerged overall winner of 2021 edition of IBB past ladies captains tournament with course handicap of 22, gross score of 98 and net score of 76.

The one-day tourney was put in place to honour the past ladies captains, who have from time contributed to the growth of ladies golf.

The tournament had in attendance over twelve out of 21 past ladies Captains.

Speaking with Journalists, the champion, Mrs Adejoh, expressed:
“I feel great and privileged, I did not expect to win, I just wanted to participate to enjoy myself, but I have the winner’s luck, it happened and I’m expected to keep it.

Mrs Adejoh, who had been playing golf for over 24 years and a lady captain one year ago, described the love and friendliness among the past and present ladies captains as unprecedented.

While speaking, the elated IBB lady Captain, who was visibily happy to see all the ladies, Mrs Rose Mary Obioha, expressed that the past captains’ contributions to the game of golf is second to none, that’s why the club decided to bring them together to play the tourney.

“What informed my opinion is that over the years, even without being a lady captain, I have always approached past lady captains and they have not disappointed us, they advise us when we sought for any advice, we just felt its time to honour them and say thank you to them, indeed they are wonderful, because they are willing to contribute to the growth and development of lady golf in the country. “

On her own, the past lady captain who served 29 years ago, Mrs Veronica Ngozi Osunbor, expressed: “This is fantastic, kudos to the current lady captain, all these while, many past captains tried to do this, but it did not see light of the day but today, this is the first time of recognizing the labour of past ladies captains, its amazing , we are happy to come together like this and we are greatful to the present lady captain.”

Also speaking, 2007 past lady captain of IBB golf club, Mrs Modupe Akinkugbe equally appreciated the present lady captain’s initiative to organise the tourney, saying:
“This is unprecedented, we are happy to be alive and healthy and still play golf.

” This tournament is a motivator, seeing other past ladies captains playing is good, this is wisdom and we are happy to be part of this.”

Also, the Secretary of the lady captain, Lizzy Asomugha, said that the tournament would go a long way in helping women to get involved more in the game of golf adding that, the game of golf is life and more women need to get involved.”

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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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