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Volleyball Super 8 Tourney: We Are Going To Ilorin For Serious Business-Custom Team

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Joel Ajayi

The Nigeria Customs Service Male and Female Volleyball team have said that the team is going to Ilorin, in  Kwara state for serious business when the 2020 Volleyball Super 8 in male and female categories respectively.

The Super Cup for the 16 teams will take place at the University of Ilorin from 19th to 29th November 2020.

Speaking to Journalists on Tuesday evening in Abuja, the Sports Secretary-General for Nigeria Customs Service Samuel Onikeku said the teams are determined to make a huge mark in the competition

Samuel Onikeku

According to him, Even though, the notice came short but you know we are always preparing for any competition, we always find a way to prepare ourselves better as you can see we are preparing to go and put up an impressive performance in Ilorin.

“We are Nigeria Custom Service, we are always motivated, motivation is not an issue so, and we are always motivated.

“We are not afraid of any team, we are the double champion, we won the league in 2018 and 2019 while the female team won in 2018 and came second in 2019, we have never underrated any team, we will still not underrate any team, there is no team that is our rival, we are going to this championship and play every team as a rival, we are not going to this championship with a target of any rivalry, we are going to this championship to face any team and emerge, winner,” he said.

When if the COVID-19 will affect his team preps, he replied: “it will not affect our team because covid-19 is affecting every sporting event and it’s a good thing that sports have come back in Nigeria  we are going to observed all the COVID-19 protocol set up by government and organizer.” He said

As for the coach of the team, Jonah Adamu stated that his target is to win the tournament:  “We got notification very late and since then we are working very hard, so with the little camping we have here we will be able to meet up

And my target is to win the championship, with the caliber of player we have in camp and little preparation we can win the tournament

He expressed the confidence of his players: “I am very impressed and satisfy with the players and their fitness.”

On her own Captain of the female team Hayisat Umar promised to leave no stone unturned with the support of her team to lift the trophy: “we are going to do our best by coming top in the first 8 of the competition our target is to come first and we can achieve that with help of God and hard work and determination from the team because volleyball ball is teamwork we and we are ready.” she said.

However, a total of 16 teams will feature at the Super Cup and the including; Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC), Kano Pillars, Nigeria Police Force, Sunshine Spikers, COAS Spikers, Offa Volleyball Club, and Nigeria Correctional Service (Men’s team)

Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, COAS Spikers, Kada Emeralds, Nigeria Police Force, Benue Queens and Heartland of Owerri (women’s team)

 

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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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