Featured
We Are Interfacing With PTF For Safe Re-opening Of Orientation Camps-NYSC

Joel Ajayi
The Director-General of NYSC Brigadier-General Ibrahim Shuaibu has revealed that the scheme is working tirelessly with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 to ensure the reopening of NYSC Orientation Camps nationwide.
Brigadier-General Shuaibu gave this assurance on Tuesday in Abuja at the 2020 NYSC Freedom of Information Act FOIA Desk officers’ Training workshop.
NYSC Boss who was represented by the Director Human Resources Management Hajiya Habiba Bappah expressed that, lives of the Corps members are paramount to the Scheme.
According to him, let me seize this opportunity to assure the general public that the lives of the Corps members are paramount to the Scheme.
“We are interfacing with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) for the safe reopening of our orientation camps in compliance with COVID-19 protocols.
“I wish to reiterate however that unqualified persons will not be allowed to participate in the programme as adequate measures are already in place to arrest and prosecute individuals that may attempt to do so.
“It is pertinent to inform you that in spearheading the fight against fake graduates especially foreign-trained ones, we had a meeting with foreign Corps producing institutions and adopted measures to curb the trend.
“We also introduced physical and online verification exercises which resulted in the arrest and prosecution of culprits.” He assured.
Speaking on the FOIA for the Scheme’s Desk Officer’s Director-General said that the training is in furtherance of Management’s efforts at enhancing the competence of staff for higher productivity in line with the extant provisions of the FOI Act.
“Since 2011, The NYSC has remained committed to the successful implementation of the FOI Act in compliance with the Government’s directive on the domestication of the Act by all Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs).
“This is in addition to the prompt response to all FOI requests as well as a timely rendition of annual reports to the Federal Ministry of Justice. Management will continue to sustain this practice and ensure that our FOIA Desk Officers are adequately trained and equipped with relevant working materials to facilitate optimum discharge of their responsibilities.
“NYSC has, over the years, operated an effective feedback mechanism which ensures prompt response to all enquires in line with the FOIA.
“All information about the operations of the NYSC and its activities are regularly publicized and updated on the scheme’s websites, social media platforms as well as the traditional media. We have also recently reintroduced the ‘NYSC Half Hour’ magazine programme on NTA and Armed Forces Radio. This has projected the scheme as one of the best performing agencies in the FOIA compliance ranking.”
While commending the commitment and resourcefulness of the Desk Officers as well as the entire workforce of the scheme which significantly contributed to the height we have attained so far; he urged them to re-double their efforts in the discharge of their duties in order to realize the scheme’s target of becoming the leading agency in FOIA compliance.
In her opening remarks, Mrs. Adeyemi congratulates all on the achievements so far recorded in the implementation of FOIA in the Scheme.
According to her, our target is to be the best in the next compliance and transparency ranking.
“The Scheme is among the first government agencies to commence implementation of the Freedom of Information Act with the appointment of Desk Officers who have ensured NYSC’s adherence to the provisions of the law both at the National Directorate Headquarters and the 36 States/FCT Secretariats.
She equally said that the training will equally, provide the requisite platform for them to interact and rub their minds on challenges, they face in the course of discharging their duties.
On his own, one of the Speakers, the International training of the trainers on Anti-Corruption Mr. Abiodun Adebanjo in his topic: Enthroning a culture of openness in the public the sector through proper implementation of the FOIA said: “disclosed that for and desk officers’ to perform optimally they need to imbibe the culture of openness transparently and accountability.
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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