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Taekwondo federation: Election of athletes, technical reps suspended due to violence

Nigeria Taekwondo Federation election for athletes and technical representative on Tuesday was suspended due to a fracas among the athletes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election, which held at the package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, was suspended after some of the athletes snatched the ballot box and fled with it.
Some of the athletes who witnessed the scene said they were disappointed with the action of the culprit athletes for displaying such unsportsmanly behaviour.
Hadiza Onazasi, a Taekwondo athlete from Sokoto, said she had recorded everything that happened.
“We started technical election when we suddenly saw some groups of people coming to stop the election. One of them carried the ballot box and I confronted him while I was recording their actions. He threatened to beat me and to crash my phone.
“I was surprised to witness such behaviour in a place that was civil, serene, coordinated and disciplined. I have grown to love the sport as a life style. We all came from different states to come and cast our vote, some of us were robbed on our way to Abuja.
” Some of us risked our lives to travel to the FCT with the present situation of the country”, she said.
The ministry people, electoral officials, people who did not support the violence, just left, we don’t know their decision now.
“But what we want is to finish this election, and I hope the ministry will do the right thing, “she said
Santos Akhilele, one of the athlete representatives, said he was disappointed that the election had been suspended.
” I’m very embarrassed because I was not expecting this to happen. Somebody came and took the ballot paper and the ministry could not do anything.
“Everybody saw what happened today and I believe that the ministry will do the right things, ” he said.
Michael Akande, said about 17 to 19 athletes voted for the technical representative when Paul Ogbodo an athlete with the Chika Chukwumerije Foundation (CCF) came to carry the ballot box and flee.
“He tore the electoral papers that the official were using for the election and then carried the ballot box and fled with it. We all know him, he came with some people to stop the election exercise.
”We finished the registration and the technical election was ongoing. They said they went to ease themselves and that was the reason why they came late and they wanted to vote.
They were about five in numbers, Ogbodo and his friend came to impede the election, they said that they want to registered and cast they vote.
“We all started shouting that registration had closed, the electoral officers was even trying to consider them, he first tore the papers and fled with the ballot paper,” he said.
According to him , Takewondo is a martial art of discipline which we all know.
“The electoral committee could not continue with the election because they were scared and they all left.
“I will suggest that electoral committee should count the number of people that voted and declare the winner because about 17 to 19 athletes voted out of 22 states that were represented,” he said
NAN reports no new date had been fixed for the resumption of the election. NAN
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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