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Nigeria TEQBALL Federation Pays Condolence Visit To Its President

Published

4 years ago

November 11, 2020

By Amaechi Agbo

The Nigeria TEQBALL Federation, NIGTEQ over the weekend paid a condolence visit to its president, Habu Gumel over the death of his darling wife.

The federation’s delegation to the condolence visit was led by its General Secretary, Mr Ndudi Edede.

Speaking after the federation arrived at the President’s house in Maitama, Abuja, the General Secretary consoled Mr Gumel over the death of his wife.

While stating that federation shares in his grief over his wife’s passing, the General Secretary also appealed to the number one Teqball man in the country to take solace in God’s mercy to rest her soul.

He noted that the federation deemed it necessary to show solidarity with him at the moment of pain because his departed wife was a pillar of support to the federation when she was alive.

“We are here as a federation on a condolence visit to our president on the loss of his darling wife. It’s a great loss to the federation and we felt so much pains over her death. We thought it wise to come as a team to condole with the family. May God give him the fortitude to bear the great loss.

“Your wife was a pillar of support for the federation and we cannot imagine how much you miss her. She was a great woman who stood solidly by you. I recall seeing her with you in few international engagements. We know she is is gone and we pray that God will have mercy on her and grant her eternal rest,” Mr Ndudi Said.

Responding, Engr. Gumel thanked the federation for their support and commended them for showing solidarity at with him.

Engr Gumel who also is the President, Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, said that the death of his wife was a huge loss.

Describing her as “my briefcase” Mr Gumel noted that he had lived with her for 43 years and had always travelled with her to anywhere during international engagements.

“I want to thank you immensely for coming to show your support. It is an indication that we are a family.

“I have lived with my wife for 43 years and to lose her now is a huge pain because she had always been my briefcase. Briefcase in the sense that I could not travel anywhere with him. She was a great woman, wife and mother.

“But there is nothing anybody can do right now. We cannot quartino her creator who had called her. All what she needs from all of us right now is prayer so that God can accept her in his kingdom,” he said.

On the entourage were the Anambra State Teqball Association Chairman, Chief Edwin Umeanozie and his FCT counterpart, Alhaji Abubakar Galadima,
Other members of the delegates include the Director of Sports and Director of technical.

“The late wife according out president had been an integral part of him, they travelled together and lived together for over 40 years.

“So at this moment of grief, we want to show support to the family and let them feel that we are with them and feel for them too,” Mr Ndudi told journalist after the visit.
Late Hajia Ladi Habu Ahmed died in the early hours of Tuesday, 20th October, 2020 at a Private Hospital in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Aged 61, Ladi Gumel was a beloved and caring mother, who died of a protracted illness. She is survived by her husband, Engr Habu Ahmed Gumel and four lovely children.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

2 weeks 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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