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Umar Farouq Seeks Global Best Standards For Persons With Disabilities In Nigeria  

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Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has appealed to the Federal government to make public buildings and other infrastructure in the country including airports, railways, motor parks, and schools, accessible to Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria.

Minister made the plea when she presented the Chairman, Members of Council, and the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday at the Presidential Villa.

In a statement issued by the  Minister’s Senior Assistant on Media Nneka Ikem Anibeze on Friday in Abuja.   Farouq thanked the President for responding favorably to the aspirations of the Disability community by assenting to the National Disability Act and the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities but noted that the Disability community in the country has been excluded from basic amenities.

She said that over 95% of public buildings in the country were not accessible to persons with Disabilities while the majority were in need of assistive devices and technologies to improve access to education and learning.

“There is a need for proactive measures to curtail the negative attitude towards Persons With Disabilities by creating mass awareness, eliminating discriminations in all forms, and improving their livelihood. The need for precise data on Persons With Disabilities and the issuance of disability certificates are significant in ensuring that the benefits of this Commission are accurately provided for the targeted population to avoid manipulations of Government’s effort”.

Also, she explained that PWDs have been provided with relief items and palliatives to ensure their inclusion in the ministry’s activities and in all social investment programmes.

“Today thousands of persons with disabilities have been touched directly through several of our intervention programmes”.

Umar Farouq appealed for the government’s continued support to ensure a dignified way of life for all persons with disabilities in Nigeria.

In his response, President Muhammadu Buhari charged the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to play its roles adequately in the realization of government’s the objective of lifting 100million Nigerians out of poverty.

“Your appointments were no mistake as you were all selected after careful evaluation and assessment of your good conduct and contribution to society and the disabled community in Nigeria.

“The task before you is enormous.  You must work diligently towards ensuring that the Government is able to touch the lives of our fellow citizens with special needs despite our limited resources.”

The President assured that his administration will continue to give effect to treaties that give inclusivity to persons with disabilities:

“Nigeria is a signatory and a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which seeks to promote the inclusion of persons with special needs in all development efforts globally.  Under my leadership, the Government shall continue to give effect to all global, regional, and sub-regional treaties that seek to improve the lives of our disadvantaged citizens.”

The Senate had earlier screened and approved the appointment of Hon. Dr. Husseinin Hassan Kangiwa from the North West as Chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in line with Sections 32(3) and 40(1) of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2019.

Other members include; Mrs. Esther Andrew Anwu Member, North Central; Mr. Abba Audu Member, North East; Ms. Amina Rahma Audu Member, North West; Mr. Jaja Oparaku Member, south-East; Ms. Philomena I Konwea Member, South-South; Mr. Omopariola Busuyi Member, South West and Mr. James David Lalu Executive Secretary North Central.

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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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