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Nigerians desirous of true electoral process – Oborevwori

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Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has charged electoral umpires to ensure free, fair, transparent, and credible elections that will generally reflect the will of the people.

Governor Oborevwori who gave the charge while swearing-in Chairman and members of the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission DSIEC, on Monday in Asaba, said Nigerians from all walks of life were desirous of an electoral process where the will of the people would prevail.

Those sworn-in include; Dr Jerry Agbaike as Chairman while Mr James Umukoro; Mr Friday Seimode; Mrs Light Diden; Mr Imasua Azogbulem; Mr Chris Onwuma and Chief Frank Oru are members.

The Governor also swore in the Chairman and members of the Delta State Local Government Service Commission with Hon. Joseph Otirhue as Chairman; while Mr. Anslem Nwokenye; Dame Minnie Igbrude and Hon. Philomena Ededey are members.

Similarly, Delta State Contributory Health Commission has Dr. Austin Obidi as Chairman and Dr. Isaac Akpoveta as Director-General.

He said the primary responsibility of (DSIEC) is to organize, undertake, and supervise all elections to local government councils within the state in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as altered).

Governor Oborevwori said that members of the Commission were carefully selected to reflect the values of probity, accountability, and strength of character that they should possess.

He urged members of the Commission to ensure that the will of voters prevails at all times in all elections they will organise.

The Governor said: “It goes without saying that Nigerians from all walks of life are desirous of an electoral process where the will of the people prevail. Deltans are no exception.

“Hence, I charge the new members of DSIEC to model the values of honesty, transparency, impartiality, courage, and respect for the rule of law.

“As we gear up for the local government elections in 2024, it is my earnest expectation that you will hit the ground running.

“It is important that you immediately begin the process of interfacing with all registered political parties in the State and ensure free flow of information from the Commission to them and other relevant stakeholders.

“The rules and procedures for electioneering campaigns must be clearly spelt out and in a timely fashion.

“In order to have free, fair, transparent, and credible elections, electoral officers, especially ad-hoc staff, must be adequately trained.

“This has been a major undoing with elections in Nigeria, and I trust that you will avoid the ugly scenario of electoral officers who are clueless about their job by ensuring that they are grounded in sound democratic election processes.

“Similarly, I expect you to guide against the recurring problems of late arrivals of electoral materials and personnel to the polling units. This will ensure a seamless voting process and elicit voter confidence”.

For the Chairman and Members of the Delta State Local Government Service Commission, Governor Oborevwori said they have the important role of supervising the management of the affairs of the local government councils, especially as it relates to the recruitment, promotion, discipline, and career development of staff of the councils.

He said members of the Commission are persons of integrity who will discharge their mandate without bias, prejudice, and favouritism. I am confident that the new Chairman and Members of the Commission meet the above criteria.

“As the third tier of government, local government councils are very critical in the governance process because they are the arm of government closest to the grassroots.

“Hence, for the policies and programmes of any government to have the desired impact, the local government councils must be alive to their constitutional responsibilities.

“To achieve our objective of inclusive governance and enhanced service delivery at the grassroots level, I charge the new members to provide strong and effective leadership that will strengthen local government administration for the purpose of meeting the needs and aspirations of our people.

“Furthermore, your decisions must be fair, just, and transparent in order to deliver a highly professional and motivated workforce. In all your policies and actions, you should strive to boost professionalism, develop leadership skills in the workforce, and deepen the organizational capacity of the councils,” he said.

He urged the Chairman and Director-General of the Delta State Contributory Health Commission to exhibit the virtues of probity, transparency and accountability in their quest for Universal Health Coverage for Deltans.

Responding on behalf of the appointees, Dr Austin Obidi thanked Governor Oborevwori for finding them fit to serve and pledged to uphold the principles of probity, transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.

He said no efforts will be spared in their quest to contribute in advancing the M.O.R.E Agenda of the administration.

The State Deputy Governor, Sir Monday Onyeme, Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Arthur Akpowowo, State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Kingsley Esiso, Professor Sam Oyovbaire, Air Vice Marshall Frank Ajobena and Chief Mrs Nkem Okwuofu were among dignitaries that attended the ceremony.

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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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