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Race To Qatar: 100 free Big Buses To Convey Fans To Stadium-FG
…21 Super Eagles’ Trains At Moshood Abiola Stadium
…Eagles depart to Ghana Thursday
As part of the federal government effort to ensure that fans come to the stadium to cheer the super eagles when they will slug it out with their arch-rival Black stars of Ghana over 100 big buses will be available to convey people from all nook and crannies of FCT and its environs.
This even as the government will be staging a roadshow in all the suburbs across the length and breadth of the capital city to create more awareness about the do-or-die-two-leg games.
Speaking on the readiness of the Committee set up by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development on Tuesday in Abuja a member of the committee and Media aid to the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, Mr. Kola Daniel said that 100 big buses will be available to convey the fans all over the city.
According to him, we are on inspection right away; we are inspecting all the facilities to ensure that we have a successful match come Tuesday next week.
“All hands are on deck to have a hitch-free match. There are going to be free 100 buses across the breadth and length of FCT Gwarinpa, Suleja, Kubwa, Nyanya, Maraba, Gwagwalada, and the same buses will convey them back to their destination.
“The buses will start work from 3:00 pm and stopped at 5:30 and after the match, they will convey fans back.”
He expressed that the stadium is ready, he thereby appeals to the fans to make Moshood Abiola their home come Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s army for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 playoff battle with Ghana on Tuesday started their preparations in the Federal Capital, Abuja ahead of departure to Kumasi on Thursday.
Friday’s encounter in Kumasi will be the 58th clash between the two countries’ senior teams, with 18 of those matches have ended in draws. The first encounter was on 20th October 1951, when Nigeria won 5-0.
Three-time African champions Nigeria and four-time African champions Ghana tango at the 40,000 –capacity Baba Yara Stadium on Friday evening, in the first leg of a potentially –explosive fixture in which both teams will battle for a single ticket to the 22nd FIFA World Cup finals.
However, the return leg at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja is expected to be even pulsating and fiery.
Business
Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

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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