Category: Features

A recent reform, which identified more than a few deficiencies in the methods and ways of revenue collection as well as shortcomings bedevilling the Gombe State Internal Revenue Service (GIRS), seems to be yielding the desired fruits. From just N500 million and N6.8 billion as monthly and annual internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2019, the state now enjoys better annual IGR out-turns, with N8.6 billion and N10.5 billion in 2020 and 2021. SOLA SHITTU reports

Right from the outset, Gombe State Internal Revenue Service (GIRS) had a lofty dream: to be the top performer and most efficient revenue collection agency among states in the country. Yet, in the year 2019, with just N500 million and N6.8 billion as monthly and annual internally generated revenue (IGR), (GIRS) was battling with myriads of problems.  Challenges included lack of administrative and financial autonomy, ineffective governance structure with overriding powers of the Executive Chairman with non-Executive Directors; uncoordinated collections by state and local government areas, culminating in multiplicity of taxes; significant revenue leakages; unprofessional conducts; lack of transparency and accountability, among other issues.

In addition, GIRS had to cope with an aging workforce and lack of a robust ICT platform that combines all the attributes of e-payment from e-billing, e-filing, e-assessment, e-objections, e-reporting, etc. The absence of revenue offices in other LGAs also undermined effective revenue mobilisation in the state. These, perhaps, were the issues that prompted Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya to embark on a reform exercise to reposition GIRS in a way to make serve the people of Gombe State more efficiently.

The report submitted by the committee set up by Governor Yahaya pointed out other complicated issues: impersonation of revenue staff; fake receipting by staff and other vendors; collection of revenue in kind; some revenue staff of the local government collectting perfume, clothes, shoes, sandals, women and children wears (etc.) in lieu of taxes. Others were poor administration of motor licensing unit and issuance of fake insurance and vehicles papers, reliance on old revenue types and obsolete rates; inability of GIRS to conduct periodic tax audit due to lack of capacity and training; lack of effective collaboration among and between revenue-generating MDAs, lack of taxpayers’ compliance due to deficit of trust and poor communication and citizens’ inability to hold government accountable due to lack of information.

The challenges were so daunting that Governor Yahaya, on assumption of office in May 2019, said with such a complex situation on the ground, his administration had no choice but to embark on a reform of GIRS in such a way that it would be in a position to generate more revenue for the state and compete favourably with other states’ revenue-generating agencies in terms of performance and efficiency. “With the dwindling revenue to the state governments from the federal government, a serious state government has no choice but to look inward,” he said.

Consequently, Mr. Abubakar Inuwa Tata, was appointed as administrator of GIRS. He is saddled with the responsibility of reforming the organisation. “In the last two and half years while reforming the system, we were able to provide coordinated collections (harmonisation of LGA rates and levies and collections); made the GIRS as sole revenue collection agency; ensured transparent and accountable revenue collections by producing periodic reports on revenue performance; addressed the issue of multiplicity of taxes through codification of tax and revenue types and institutionalisation of Joint State and LGA Revenue Committee; strengthened of internal control process to punish unprofessional conduct; prohibited cash collections by revenue officers; expanded the board structure of the Service to enhance accountability; encouraged voluntary compliance through tax education, palliatives and tax concessions; gave legal backing to LG Revenue Committee; provided a platform for the implementation of Treasury Single Account; replaced old and obsolete rates inherited from Bauchi State; provided new tax heads emerging from the evolution of economic activities; redefined the state into urban, semi-urban and rural areas to ensure equity in tax administration; redefined Micro, Small and Medium enterprises to properly delineate entities from each other in the implementation of presumptive tax regime, among many others,” he said.

Tata said his major achievements in the GIRS can be viewed from two dimensions: revenue generation and reforming the GIRS, which attracted grants from the World Bank. “On revenue generations, we sponsored a complete wholesale review of the entire Revenue Administration Law 2018 to Gombe State Revenue Codification and Consolidation Law 2020, reviewed obsoletes rates, fees, fines, levies, and charges, which enhanced collections by the Service in collaboration with the MDAs; streamlined revenue generation process, resulting in a clearly delineated revenue heads of the state government away from revenues collectible by the 11 LGAs; improved revenue outturn from N6.8 billion in 2019 to N8.6 billion and N10.5 billion in 2020 and 2021, respectively; successfully completed the back duty audit of N1.0 billion and N4.9 billion as an established, undisputed and agreed amount to be collected this year and or early next year,” he said.

The new management of GIRS inherited a highly indebted agency, just like the state government, with poor governance structure that undermined collections. The Directorates in GIRS were manned by Non-Executive Directors, which affected internal governance. “We empowered the Directorates in the Service to be headed by Executive Directors by amending the Service’s enabling law; we unbundled the existing Departments from eight to thirteen to enhance efficiency in service delivery. We drafted the mission and vision of the Service to reflect the current vision of the state government of a transparent and accountable modern institution capable of mobilising sufficient revenues and being managed by professional staff.

“On staff motivation, we met a system that rewarded mediocrity and poor compensation system that encouraged wrongdoings with significant cases of absenteeism and lateness to work; irregular payment of staff allowance, which we inherited about six months backlog; lack of training and retraining of staff; little or no learning opportunities and motivation to work extra hours. We introduced a performance-based allowance for staff that meet their revenue target from irregular 50% to 100% of their basic salaries across all categories of staff; streamlined benefits system to support staff at period of joy and sadness; regularised employment of about eight staff members who were working in the Service without a letter of employment.

“We also created learning opportunities for staff who want to become members of professional bodies by reimbursing staff with total amount of all receipted expenses during such training that the Service approved, which saw an increase in the number of professionals from two (2) to seven (7); trained 467 staff in 39 thematic areas; increased allowances of non-accountable cash advances for all categories of staff, introduced local NATA and weekend duty allowance to meet revenue targets,” he said.

On the relationship of GIRS with third–party consultants and vendors and MDAs, Tata said his management met a system that rewarded consultants as much as 25.0 – 30.0 per cent of collections or recoveries made and, in some cases, the revenue had to go to the consultant account first, before the consultant settled with the government. “We immediately invited all the consultants for a review meeting, discontinued the unwholesome practices and reviewed their commissions/fee down to 10.0 per cent for all categories of consultants, excluding the ICT lead consultant, which we proposed downward review as the consultant seeks renewal of his contract. We equally reviewed downward the fees being collected by all payment gateways from 1.5 per cent to 1.0 per cent and put a cap on the maximum amount to be charged per transaction in order to increase the efficiency of tax administration in the state and introduced 5.0 per cent cost of collections for all MDAs to enhance collaboration and cooperation.”

On reforming the GIRS and tax administration in the state, the new management was able to provide non-debt financing resources to the government through the attainment of State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme for Result directly under the Service’s core mandate, which includes US$2.5 million grant for Covid-19 Tax Concession and Palliatives, US$1.0 million grant for banning the use of consultants in assessment and collection of personal income tax, US$2.0 million grant for successful completion of the Revenue Codification, Harmonization, and Consolidation Law, US$1.0 million grant for the TSA Cash Management Strategy Document and Implementation, which the Service worked on and published as the Secretariat of the TSA Implementation and Enforcement Committee, Supported and provided regulation for accessing US$2.0 million grant for property enumeration in the state by capturing and creating G-TIN for 85,759 property owners in Gombe State, thereby effectively bringing the property owners into the tax net; and the likelihood of assessing additional US$1.0 million grant on year-on-year increase in revenue up to 20.0% of which the Service achieved over 26.1 percent.

Other achievements included the IGR Expansion Strategy Document (2023 – 2027), which was prepared by DAI (USAID) for the State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) project with active participation of relevant stakeholders in the state. He said if the strategy is implemented in the short to medium term, it is capable of boosting the state IGR to another historic level as projected in the Gombe State 10-year Development Plan (DEVAGOM). The recently constituted Gombe State Revenue Recovery Tribunal is another landmark achievement under the administration of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.

“We initially nominated a magistrate in 2020 law to adjudicate on the issues of tax and revenue issues because the use of normal judicial system is likely going to delay prompt dispensation of justice and that’s why the Service amended the law in 2021 to institutionalise a special tribunal that would protect both the taxpayers and the tax authority in case of dispute as an independent body. This is likely to enhance accountability and transparency of tax administration in the state while protecting both the taxpayers and the Service.

“The revenue of the state before our arrival at the revenue Service was specifically N6.8 billion for 2019. However, with all the initiatives and the reforms highlighted above, the Service was able to shore up collections to N8.6 billion and N10.5 billion in 2021. This development is not unconnected with the palliatives and concession given to taxpayers during the Covid-19, which acted as arrears clearing opportunities for the taxpayers who enjoyed various categories of waivers from 5.0 to 50.0 per cent of their uncleared tax liabilities and continuous engagement of the taxpayers through focus group discussion, tax education program, live television and radio programmes, jingles and other electronic handbills, among many others,” he said.

On the possibility of the state becoming financially stable and stopping reliance on monthly federal allocations, Tata said the state has all the potentials to be independent provided the leadership and the governed reach a consensus to grow the local economy. According to him, taxation is about a social contract between the citizens and the government and once both agree to contribute their quota to the development of the state and the government uses these resources efficiently and in a transparent manner through tax for service initiatives, definitely, the state would mobilise sufficient resources for its development.

Challenges

According to Tata, the current initiatives of the state government to open up the local economy through the industrial park, the Wawa-Zange grazing reserves for livestock production, the attractive and friendly business environment and solid infrastructure being laid are capable of boosting future revenue of the state. However, the successes recorded so far by the GIRS are not without challenges as some business owners in the state still complain of multiple taxations.

But Tata explained that there is a fundamental misconception of the word multiple taxation among taxpayers.  “Multiple taxation occurs where the tax, fee or rate is imposed on the same person in respect of the same liability by more than one state or local government council. By this, it means that if the state government is collecting let say ground rent from a taxpaying entity, in this case, the liability is ground rent, and a local government council is also collecting ground rent on the same person or taxpaying entities, such practice can be termed multiple taxation. However, if a state government serves you with a demand notice on ground rent and local government serves you with a demand notice on tenement rate, that is not a multiple taxation as long as the liability is not the same.”

On why different taxes were introduced, especially for commercial motorcycles and Keke NAPEP riders, the chairman said the GIRS has not introduced different taxes. He stated that the taxes have been there for long but not domesticated and implemented. “What we did was to domesticate most of the taxes that are in the law of the Federation of Nigeria and legislate them in the state so that the Service will be able to enforce them in the state. That apart, the reason we conducted the biometric data capture for the motorcycles and tricycles in the state is for security, empowerment and revenue generation.  You are not unmindful of the fact that the use of okada and keke has been banned in more than ten (10) states in Nigeria. These include Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Jos, Kaduna, Kano in the North due to increasing cases of insecurity associated with their operations. Many of these riders relocated to Gombe State in order to continue with their operations and if left uncontrolled, unchecked and unregulated, they can constitute a security risk to the state as many of them came from different states with different habits and culture.”

Growing insecurity in many parts of Nigeria is causing serious economic disruptions as large amounts of food produced are lost because they cannot find way to the silos or the strategic grains reserves. This is contributing to hunger; just as the crisis reduces income as well as quantity of food produced in the country. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Worsening insecurity in Nigeria is causing domestic food production to decline sharply. It has also damaged vast farming areas, displaced thousands of farmers and triggered a sharp increase in the cost of agricultural inputs.

In the Northern parts of Nigeria, especially in the huge food production belts, bandits have disrupted farmers’ efforts to carry out irrigation and livestock vaccination. They have also food shut supply routes, leading to increase in food prices. On the other hand, rural parts of the Northwest, usually food baskets for processing activities, have been under attack. The summation, according to analysts, is that insecurity has drastically eroded livelihoods and triggered widespread unemployment.

One of them is agribusiness stakeholder and coordinator, Agribusiness & Youth Empowerment of Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria (CASON), Anga Sotonye. Sotonye is a victim of the rampaging activities of herders whose agribusiness venture has suffered losses to the tune of over N20 million. He said insecurity is the biggest threat facing agriculture and the food market, stressing that it could hamper the growing season if the trend goes on.

According to him, the situation has engendered worsening poverty and food insecurity, thus undoing decades of gains in ending hunger. He and other stakeholders are on the campaign for the government to develop a sector-led farming community’s safety plan, as community vigilance is no longer enough to help the situation. They emphasised the need for implementable initiatives to make farming safety a national priority and ensure a future of food security for Nigerians.

The knock-on effect

Ultimately, food security has been eroded due to the impact of banditry and the disruption of farming routes. Farmers, according to Sotonye, are cutting back on visits to farms. “We are having bandits invading our farms and denying farmers access to them. In most cases, farmers are abducted directly on their farms. As a farmer, I cannot visit most of my farms across the country because of insecurity. A lot of farmers are withdrawing from their farms.”

Sotonye stated that farmers have become targets for armed gangs, adding that the fear and terror instilled in them have driven the rural farmers off their land. The result is that the farmers cannot produce more grains such as maize in large quantities to fill silos, especially those located in the North.

Echoing similar concerns, National President of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, believes the key to food security, sector growth and inclusivity lies in secure access to land. Iyama expressed concern that farmers were unable to defend themselves.

Role of silos

As the government continues to drive its self-sufficiency in food supply strategy, one area government has been working with the private sector to improve is stocking of grains. Standard silos provide grain storage, bagging and distribution services with capacities from 5.000 to 25.000 tonnes. The Chief Executive, Agriculture and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, told The Nation that protecting the national food stock through grain storage plants is critical if the federal government is to prevent any regression in the sector’s gains.

Since silo complexes were concessioned by the federal government in 2019, the facilities have not been working on full capacities to increase the total tonnes of grains in government’s reserve to 200,000 metric tonnes in the last two years. One of the major sources of worry, according to analysts, is that the country has not been able to meet the minimum 3.5 million tonnes of grains reserves required at any particular time, as stipulated by the United Nations. Observers have also concluded that drawing from the SGRs was an indication that food production challenges subsists in the country, a situation which calls into question the government’s claim of the country’s self-sufficiency in food production and security in recent times.

The Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission said commercialising the silo complex operations to the private sector will unlock N99.3 billion economic value. One time Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, initiated the concession in 2013, who felt the federal government did not have means to manage and maintain the 33 silo complexes.

His words: “Government does not have that kind of money to manage them. We, therefore, want the private sector to lease this huge storage infrastructure to improve their management, efficiency and profitability.”

After he left, his successor, Audu Ogbeh, announced the concession process on September 19, 2018. Ogbeh made the announcement after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval, disclosing that 33 silos with a capacity of 1,360,000 metric tonnes of grains are spread almost evenly through the geo-political zones of the country. Also, he added that the government will earn N6 billion in the 10-year period of the first instance.

The silo complexes, located across the country, included 100,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) capacity facility at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State; 25,000mt facility in Ogoja, Cross River State; 25,000mt Akure, Ondo State; 25,000mt in Jos, Plateau State; 25,000mt in Sokoto; 25,000mt in Gaya, Kano State; 25,000mt in Bauchi; 25,000mt in Ikenne, Ogun State; 100,000mt in Kwali, Federal Capital Territory, and 100,000mt Bulasa, Kebbi State.

Others are 25,000mt in Igbariam, Anambra State; 25,000mt in Akwa Ibom State; 25,000mt in Ebonyi State; 25,000mt in Jahun, Jigawa State; 25,000mt in Kaduna; 25,000m in Makurdi, Benue State; 25,000mt in Gombe; 25,000mt in Ibadan, Oyo State; and 11,000mt  in Lafiagi, Kwara State.

Agro Universal Consortium was awarded eight silos – Ado-Ekiti, Ogoja, Akure, Jos, Sokoto, Gaya, Bauchi and Ikenne; while Matrixville Consortium was awarded five – Kwali, Bulasa, Jahun, Kaduna and Lafiagi. Flour Mills got three – Makurdi, Gombe and Ibadan. Ebony Agro industries Ltd. was awarded Ezilo, Neon Farms Africa Consortium got Uyo, while Coscharis Farms was awarded the silo complex in Igbariam.

Adesina said the government wanted the private sector to manage and operate the silos across the country, as part of the ministry’s storage infrastructure under the Strategic Grains Reserves (SGR). On May 16, 2019, the silos were released to six agro allied companies: Agro Universal Consortium, Matrixville Nigeria Ltd, Flour Mills Limited, Ebony Agro Industries Ltd, Neon Farms Africa Consortium and Coscharis Farms Ltd, which won the bids, for the benefit of farmers and the nation.  Flour Mills, Agro Universal Consortium and Matrixville Nigeria Ltd have been active in running   silo complexes.

However, on the whole, most of the 33 silos across the country, with a total capacity of 1.3 million metric tonnes of grains, are empty or put into other uses. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the federal government ordered the release of 70,000 metric tonnes of grains from the SGR as a palliative to the vulnerable. What was left was insignificant to enable intervention in other industries that need help. It was far short of the needs of the people during the period. The Director, Strategic Grains Reserve at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Sule Haruna, said out of the 33 silos, the federal government had earmarked six for national reserve, adding that it was from these that the 70,000 metric tons was released to the vulnerable frontline states during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Insecurity impact on silos

Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Abubakar, to release 40,000 metric tons of grains from the national Strategic Grains Reserves to be distributed among vulnerable Nigerians. According to the Minister, the President was shaken by the increasing food inflation in the country and sought for a way to cushion the effects on ordinary Nigerians who may not have the means to acquire the costly food items from the market.

But, according to the Director of SGR, the country’s food reserves had been reduced to only about 32,000 metric tonnes after the federal government ordered the release of 70,000 metric tonnes of grains from the SGR as palliatives to vulnerable Nigerians amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. He, however, insisted that the reserves had since been restocked to 90,000 metric tonnes and urged the government to hasten efforts at replenishing the food vault.

Despite massive investment by the federal government in building silos to boost food security, many of the facilities were not in active use. Analysts see this as an alarming consequence of the insecurity with a greater numbers of farmers driven away from the farms. Consequently, Nigeria faces a worsening food crisis as silos are empty of grains. In Ogun, the 45 silos have become moribund. In Oyo State, many of the silos located in farm settlements across the state are not in active, including those in Saki, Monatan, Ogbomoso and Iseyin.

Without safe farming communities, Oladunni noted that Nigeria will continue to see a rapid decline in the number of farmers; while it will also fail to attract new ones.

Without securing the farms and the supply chain, he maintained that there is no way the silos and the national grains reserve will be filled to strengthen the nation’s preparedness and resilience to future shocks. His words: “How can we take from the silos when people are not producing enough? If people cannot access the farms, how can they produce for the government to buy and store in the silos? Usually, government buys from the government to put in the silos.”

With increasing insecurity, former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan, Prof  EmilOlorun Ambrose   Aiyelari,  reiterated  that there was no way the silos  will be overflowing  with grains, expressing concerns about food shortages driving up prices. He maintained that most of the silos in the country are empty of grains caused by herders’ attack on farmers and low food production. “A month to harvest these people will just drive in their cows. Sometimes, they bring in 20 to 100 cows to walk over your farm. So it is a problem for farmers now. The silos will continue to be empty. The silos in Ibadan have been given to Flour Mills. They are using it to store their products. I don’t know how they are getting their grains.”

Aiyelari, a professor of Agriculture Engineering at the University of Ibadan, was of the opinion that the nation’s SGR was underperforming not only to prevent food shortages, but would also check inflationary pressures. One of the major effects of insecurity would be an incremental and growing dependence on imports of basic foodstuffs. But Iyama would not want this kind of situation. However, the situation has brought about sharply contrasting farming landscapes for farmers in the North and South. There are now a few farming areas in the North considered as safe havens. This means only a few states where there is semblance of security are where farming activities can take place; unlike in the past where virtually all the states were conducive for farming. To reduce the soaring food prices, Iyama urged the government to use areas considered as safe for farming. He suggested: “There are still some areas where insecurity is not so rife. We should encourage more people to go into farming in states where there is less threat of insecurity.”

The declaration of a state of emergency in the education sector by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya is gradually helping in turning around the fortunes of all the six state-owned tertiary institutions in Gombe State. However, the reform is not without challenges, reports SOLA SHITTU

In the beginning, it was a tough and daunting task – or so it first seemed. But during his inaugural address of May 29th 2019, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya was resolute that proliferation of tertiary schools in Gombe State was unhealthy. To derive maximum benefits for all stakeholders, he insisted that having a huge number of schools of higher learning required a critical assessment of their viability and sustainability vis-à-vis the huge debt over-hung of N110 billion.

Out of the six tertiary institutions in the state, only two were enlisted on TETFUND.

Consequently, Governor Yahaya immediately declared a state of emergency in the education sector and set up a white paper committee led by Prof. Buba Bajoga to examine the relevance of tertiary institutions in the state.

Governor Yahaya said that his administration inherited huge challenges in the education sector, with Gombe ranking 34 out of 36 states in external examinations. This, he explained, prompted his administration to immediately declare a state of emergency in the sector in order to salvage it from total collapse. “We met collapsed education system with dilapidated structures and unmotivated staff. The shortfall was as a result of the shameless relegation of education by the immediate past administrator of the state. They turned a blind eye while the quality of education in the state declined consistently. It was shameful and depressing to see students in the state perform woefully in national examinations, with this case being one of the trends in recent years,” he said.

In the higher education sector, the administration met the college of Islamic and Legal Studies in Nafada, with only affiliated courses to the Institute of Administration, Ado Bayero University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State. There was no course was accredited in the college. The college was established in 2013, but it started operation in 2016 and has just graduated its first set of students with various diploma programmes. “We felt it was improper because the implication was that we are running the place but nobody graduates with the name of Gombe State talk less of Nafada where the school is cited. So we said something must be done to change that situation,” said the Commissioner for Higher Education, Mr. Meshak Audu Lauco.

After looking at various options available, the state government came to the conclusion that the school must belong to a group that has a regulatory body at the top; not affiliation. It then opted for being under the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and the name of the school was changed to the College of Education and Legal Studies, Nafada. The change was then followed up with the amendment in the law establishing the college. It then applied for a resource inspection of the facilities by the NCCE, which later came and approved the facilities for the running of NCE programmes.

As a result of the NCCE visit, the institution rose from no NCE programmes to having 13 NCE programmes approved by the NCCE. The spiral effect of that NCCE approval was that immediately after that, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which had not been admitting students for the college before also approved student admission for the college, since it has been approved by the NCCE. After perfecting the critical foundational error of the college, the state government applied for enlistment of the college with TETFUND and it was approved.

“To the glory of God and the consistent hard-work of this government under the leadership of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, we have secured an intervention from TETFUND this year to the tune of N447 million and, just last month, we also have a zonal intervention of N130 million from the North-East Development Commission (NEDC). So for Nafada, the story has changed from an affiliated school to now an accredited school and anybody in academic knows what that means,” said Meshak.

Governor Yahaya, who went on an impromptu visit to the college, said the changing of the nomenclature of the name of the college, the recognition by the NCCE, JAMB and TETFUND did not happen just like; they were outcomes of effective follow-ups from so many angles. “We need to be working assiduously to ensure that we cover some gaps and also give necessary support so that the college can attain a greater height,” he said.

The Provost, College of Education and Legal Studies, Nafada, Dr. Safiyanu Ishaku, said all the achievements recorded so far will not be possible without the support and fatherly role of Governor Yahaya. “We started this project for about five legal and Islamic Studies. The first was College of Legal and Islamic Studies, Jigawa; followed by Bauchi; then Gombe. I have just received a call from the provost of Maiduguri that the bill is still in the House of Assembly. They started before us but we have completed before them. The same thing with Yola. Yola said there was a misunderstanding between the lawyers and the management of the college; that the lawyers don’t want the name of the college to be changed. So this is why we cherish the support we received from the Governor and the Gombe State House of Assembly,” he said.

The Commissioner for Higher Education, however, said the successes recorded so far are not limited to the College of Education and Legal Studies, Nafada, but also to the state polytechnic at Bajoga and other higher institutions in the state. “Gombe State Polytechnic has been existing since 2013, but out of the nine courses they have, none was accredited. So when we came, we met students that were graduating without accreditation under the previous government. So we said we have no option than to go for accreditation under the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Kaduna. We invited NBTE; they came for resource inspection and then gave their advice.

“We had an engineering complex that was not completed. The previous government awarded the contract, but refused to pay. Therefore, the contractor abandoned the site. We called the contractor back and completed the engineering complex, supplied the materials and then invited the NBTE again for accreditation. They came and we scaled through the accreditation. This is a government that doesn’t say that because this project was not started by this government, therefore, we will not do it. We will look at the value of that project to the society. If it’s worth it, then we go ahead and complete it. Even if the intention was bad, we will turn it into good for the society to benefit.”

The story is the same at Gombe State University (GSU) where the medical students have been studying without graduating and all the requirements for graduation were put in place by the state government. “Since the coming of this government, we have graduated the first two sets and we will soon graduate the third set of medical students from GSU in addition to other accredited programmes. The GSU has over 49 accredited programmes with 60 post graduate programmes all accredited. This is a university that is housing over 15, 000 students. In 2020 we tried to introduce law degree programme, but the national body in charge of accreditation said we cannot. We went back and did the needful and today the first set of law students are there because we now have the accreditation. So no matter how difficult it is, this government will go through to ensure that what we give to our people is a certificate they can work anywhere with.”

However, the success stories in higher education sector of the administration are not without problems. In 2019 when the administration came on board, it met in GSU an outstanding Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) to the tune of N1.3 billion and the staff demanded that it be paid. “We explained the situation of government to them and reached an agreement where we are offsetting N250 million annually.”

On the College of Nursing and Midwifery in Gombe, a number of courses were also not accredited, coupled with the general practice that such school no longer awarded National Diploma in Nursing or Midwifery, Higher National Diploma in Nursing or Midwifery and B.Sc. Nursing. “But when we came, that wasn’t happening because facilities were not provided. But Governor Yahaya said we must provide them and they were provided. Today, the College of Nursing and Midwifery is the first to start running ND and HND in Nursing and Midwifery in the country. The site of the college was also relocated to a new one along the by-pass in Gombe that can accommodate 600 students on campus.”

Perhaps, the most challenging of all the six institutions of higher learning was the Gombe State University of Science and Technology in Kumo, which was established by the immediate past administration in 2017, but did not inaugurate the body in charge of the school until 2019 and neither was any staff employed until the eve of its exit on 28th of May 2019. Similarly, the Governing Council for the University was inaugurated in the same month of May 2019. In addition, the staffing and other things will cost the state government N70 million monthly with a contractual obligations of N1.9 billion to the contractors.

When Governor Yahaya came into office, he immediately stopped the payment of the staff salary since none of them has been paid even once. “It was a painful decision; it’s not the will of the state government to inflict any injury or pain on anybody but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing right. When we saw that practically it was going to be impossible to run two state universities with the resources that we have, we decided to think outside the box and entered into agreement with Lincoln University College, Malaysia, to establish and run the university and we call it Lincoln University College Malaysia, Kumo campus, and we signed the PPP agreement with them.”

In the PPP agreement, Gombe State is to supply the infrastructure; while Lincoln University Malaysia will bring part of the manpower and take charge of the administration and run it for a period incorporated in the memorandum of understanding (MoU). “One of it was that 25 per cent of the academic staff will be indigenes of Gombe State, 20 per cent of students to be indigenes of the state, 70 per cent of non-academic staff to be indigenes of the state and each student of Gombe State admitted to the school will be entitled to a discount of not more than 50 per cent.”

Similarly, for the first ten years of running, the state government will be entitled to ten per cent of profit; at 20 years, it will increase to 20 per cent; and 30 per cent at 30 years of running. “After the 30 years, provision is made for both parties to access assets of both parties at current rate and decide on the options of either the state government buy up the assets of Lincoln University and take over completely or vice versa. In the alternative, they can also sit down and write a new agreement.”

The university is expected to officially commence operation this September after perfecting all necessary procedure with National University Commission (NUC). The Gombe State College of Education, Billiri, is also now running 19 accredited programs; while the School of Health Science and Technology in Kaltungo, which had few courses accredited before, now has 16 courses accredited at the National Diploma level and two Higher National Diploma programmes accredited.

An inter-dealer brokerage form, Parthian Partners Limited, has marked 10 years of operations with formidable footprints in the financial services sector. The company, which set up the inter-dealer brokerage business in Nigeria at a time there was no regulatory framework, recently announced successful maturity and redemption of its debut Series 1 Commercial Paper under its N20 billion Issuance Programme. Assistant Business Editor COLLINS NWEZE reports that Parthian Partners Limited has huge potential that can be effectively harnessed for financial sector growth and better returns

In this part of the world, not all businesses make it to their 10th anniversary. Survival rate for businesses is even lower when the concerned firm handles people’s investments. That explains the excitement that greeted Parthian Partners Limited 10th anniversary held in Lagos to celebrate its impact on the inter-dealer brokerage business in Nigeria and in supporting investments across several spectrum of the economy.

Clients, friends and well-wishers from all over world, joined the company, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Oluseye Olusoga, to commemorate 10 years of outstanding achievements. During the event, which was attended by prominent industry personalities, celebrities, staff and management of the organisation and other stakeholders, Olusoga said the company has greatly contributed to bridging the gap in both the wholesale and retail financial sector.

“The wholesale brokerage industry is one with huge potentials though when we decided to set up the first ever inter-dealer brokerage business in Nigeria, there was no regulatory framework, the industry didn’t even exist. Now, there are so many other businesses in Nigeria who do what we do.

“We are happy that we have pioneered a bourgeoning industry that improves liquidity, financial integration, transparency and efficiency in the African Over The Counter (OTC) and fixed income market.”  Olusoga also expressed his appreciation to everyone who contributed to the growth and success of the company.

Looking back at how the company came into existence, Inter-dealer brokerage – a financial system where an intermediary known as inter-dealer broker facilitates transactions between wholesale market participants – was established in Nigeria in 2012, and as the industry marked a decade of existence in Nigeria this year. Highlights of the anniversary of the company were its maiden awards ceremony as members of staff who had excelled over the past year were rewarded in the midst of guests.

In attendance at the epic night of activities were captains of industry, political leaders, clients and friends of the investment company. Some of the guests present were Chairman Fate Foundation, Fola Adeola, Chairman Lenox Group, Yemi Adeola; Managing Director/CEO, Central Securities Clearing System,  Ibrahim Jalo Waziri; Chairman Abraham Strategies; former Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr Abraham Nwankwo; Tunde Kilaso; Engineer Adebayo Adeola, and Dr Olusola Labinjo

The Chairman of Parthian Group, Adedotun Sulaiman, while commenting on the early beginnings of the company and its achievements, said, “Today we are celebrating all those who have contributed to the success of Parthian and the industry in general. For us, success was achievable because we had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve, and we were focused on making it work.

“Parthian Partners became an inter-dealer broker in Nigeria at a time when the concept was alien to the region; so we had to build from the scratch. It was no mean feat to introduce this vision and work with regulators and develop a framework for its regulation and operations, a vision which birthed not only a successful business but also a thriving sector. As we celebrate Parthian’s 10th anniversary, it is an appropriate time for us, as pioneers of this great company, to reflect on our phenomenal achievements and to commit ourselves to build a legacy for the future generations,” Sulaiman further disclosed.

Parthian Partners Limited is Nigeria’s first inter-dealer broker, serving both buy-side and sell-side wholesale market participants and providing liquidity by showing prices on all on and off-the-run Federal Government of Nigeria , state and corporate bonds, Treasury Bills, Promissory notes, and Eurobonds. With a long history of firsts, in 2021, Parthian Partners became the first Inter-Dealer Broker in Nigeria to successfully issue and redeem a N20 billion Commercial Paper on the FMDQ Exchange.

N20b Series 1 Commercial Paper Redeemed

Parthian Partners Limited, Nigeria’s foremost inter-dealer brokerage firm, has announced the successful maturity and redemption of its debut Series 1 Tranche A & B Commercial Paper under its N20 billion Issuance Programme. The N15 billion Series 1, which was issued earlier this year on the FMDQ Exchange, matured on the 26th of November; while the N5 billion Series 2 matured on the 30th of December 2021. The issuance represents the first by an Inter-dealer brokerage firm in the Nigerian capital market on the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (FMDQ) platform.

Parthian Partners Limited is rated Bbb (stable outlook) by Agusto & Co and the company’s Commercial Paper Programme is rated A1- by DataPro, evidencing the institution’s good funding profile, improving profitability and support from the owners, as well as good capitalisation. The issuance was led by Coronation Merchant Bank, Renaissance Securities (Nigeria) Limited and Afrinvest West Africa Limited and was largely subscribed to by investors in the Banking, Asset Management, Pension Fund Administration, and Insurance sectors in Nigeria.

On the successful redemption, Olusoga stated, “On our inaugural issuance, institutional investors entrusted us as the premier inter-dealer broker in the domestic market. We are pleased to repay this trust and redeem our inaugural public issue at its maturity. We look to further entrench our market leading position and develop our relationship in the capital market as a responsible and dynamic issuer.”

Parthian Partners Limited is a member of the Parthian Group, duly licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as an inter-dealer broker in Nigeria. The Issuer is one of the six FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (FMDQ) registered inter-dealer brokers in Nigeria. Parthian Partners provides wholesale brokerage services for transactions among market dealers and investors, facilitating trading in municipal bonds, treasury bills, corporate bonds, Eurobonds and local contractor bonds. Parthian Partners remains committed to proving itself as a market leader in fixed-income, equities and structured finance both in Nigeria and across Africa.

‘Bbb’ Ratings Affirmed by Agusto & Co

Pan African credit rating firm, Agusto & Co Limited affirmed the “Bbb” rating assigned to Parthian Partners Limited (PPL) with a stable outlook for the year 2022/2023. Agusto & Co, in its rating note, explained that the “Bbb” rating is indicative of Parthian Partners’ profitability and experienced management team, among other factors. “The rating reflects PPL’s good capitalization and profitability, its experienced management team and support from owners,” the rating company affirmed.

Speaking on the development, Olusoga remarked that the rating aligns with the business’ standing as an industry leader with robust earnings potential, and experienced management. “The affirmation of Parthian’s rating by Agusto & Co validates the strength of our business model and our capacity to continue to support our clients while playing our part in improving liquidity in the Nigerian markets,” he said.

Parthian Partners was also recently assigned a BBB+’ credit rating by DataPro Limited, just months after the firm successfully redeemed its debut N20 billion commercial paper quoted on the FMDQ Exchange.

New products development

Africa’s first treasury bills investment app, I-invest generated about N2 billion worth of investments from its active users in less than six months after it was launched. The Nigerian company, Parthian Partners, developed the investment app, which does not only facilitate investment in treasury bills but also helps to foster a savings culture, has said that it has doubled its one year target in less than six months.

Olusoga said “We are happy that we were able to make this much of an impact. This helps us solidify our goal of playing our part in building Nigeria’s economy. The more people invest with the app, the bigger the money market becomes. This is a step in the right direction, although it will take some time to make a more significant impact.”

The app essentially functions as a platform with a structure that allows investors to make payments into their virtual wallets either by direct transfers or with the use of a card from where investments can be made. It is important to mention that all the investments are held in safe custody by a licensed securities custodian which effectively protects all investments made by the investors on the app. The app is also under the purview of the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Segun Oluyomi, a user of the app made a comment about the app saying “At a time I was searching for an app I could use to save and I came across I-invest. I found out that you can invest with the app in treasury bills. It helps me save and also gives me interest on my savings. That’s where all my spare cash goes into now. As most of us know, treasury bills are government guaranteed debt instruments issued by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on their behalf to finance expenditure. The CBN also uses treasury bills to control the money supply and flow in the economy.”

Treasury bills are low risks instruments, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria and offers high returns depending on the tenor when one invests with the app. This is one of the main reasons why Nigerians are using the app; it not only offers risk-free investments but also boasts of competitive returns compare to your traditional savings account.

On collaboration with professional partners, the company said:  “It is of the utmost importance to us that our partners receive top-notch customer and technical support and work under clearly defined conditions that secure a solid business platform and opportunities for developing and extending the boundaries of cooperation.”

Parthian Partners also provides regular market updates, and liaises with market participants and regulators in African markets to provide independent research on the African fixed income market. It equally provides market participants with credible market data which reflect market conditions and sentiments.

Rebranding

PSL Capital Limited, an indigenous broker/dealer firm, completed a strategic rebranding effort as part of its accelerated company growth and renewal of its corporate vision. At the core of the rebrand is a change of the company name to Parthian Securities Limited, a member of the Parthian Group and a Trading License holder of the Nigerian Exchange. The rebranding is part of the organisation’s strategy to evolve its business and create a platform for new opportunities. Despite the name change, the corporate philosophy remains the same as the company looks to invest in new and innovative ways to bring the financial markets closer to participants in the Nigerian Capital Market.

As part of efforts to achieve universal health coverage and boost access to affordable and quality healthcare services, Lagos State floated a mandatory health insurance scheme for residents. The General Manager, Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, shed light on the three-year journey of the agency, including the achievements and expectations. She spoke with selected Health Editors, saying the agency has grown its enrollees from 5,000 to over 623,000 in three years. Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF was there. Excerpts:-

Our service packages since we started in 2020

The overall goal of the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS) is to ensure that all residents of Lagos have unhindered access to quality healthcare services in an efficient, sustainable, and equitable manner and this is why it is made mandatory for all residents, all employees in the public and private sectors, including the self-employed and the unemployed.

Let me also say that the LSHS comprises three components: Lagos State Health Plan (LSHP), now rebranded as ILERA EKO; the Formal Health Plan (FHP), being provided to Lagos State Public Servants; and the Lagos State Private Health Plan (LSPHP), being marketed by all the Lagos State-based private Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) in Lagos State.

We have the cheapest health plan. Even though our plans are affordable, very affordable; we have the cheapest plans in Nigeria actually. Therefore, the informal sector, who have daily income will be very difficult for them to bring out that amount of money at once. And so we need to work on having some kind of installmental payment mechanism. So for now, aside from, if you are not able to pay at once, you are able to pay at a monthly quarterly or half yearly and you still have access to the same service. Our standard plan is N8, 500 for an individual per year and N40,000 for a family of six per year. That is father, mother and four children under the age of 23. It used to be 18, but with the feedback that we got from the public and we all know, you’ll have children of 20, 21 that are still at home being fed by parents and still dependent. So we had to increase the level of coverage from 18 years now to 23. So if your children are under 23, you can bring them in on your family plan.

We’ve also expanded our bouquet of services based on feedback with the public. We have what we call our senior plan where residents over age 60 can come on board the scheme. And that with that offer, not only do you have the services under the standard plan or you’re able to do like a yearly screening test that would help you if you have cancer, etc., which we know, is very important as we get older. So we have that as an individual plan of N34,000 and as a couple which is daddy and mummy that comes to N65,000.

We’re very mindful of the fact that we also have families that are more than six. If you have a family that is more than six and the additional family member is less than 23 years, it would come at the cost of N6,000 per child. If the additional family member is over 18 years of age, the individual price of N8,500 applies. The beauty of insurance is that sickness doesn’t inform anybody before it comes. Nobody knows when he or she will fall ill. This plan will cover non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, malaria, febrile conditions, surgeries, antenatal care, delivery, lab investigations and medicines related to conditions covered, among others.

Enrollees rose from 5,000 to over 623,000 in 3 years

The attached premium of N40,000 or N8, 500 is relatively reasonable when compared to out-of-pocket payment. An individual may pay more than that at once for just malaria treatment. We’ve also come up with what we call Ilera Eko standard plus and that provides an additional bouquet of services over and above the standard. And that was also based on feedback from the general public, including even sick public servants who want something a bit more. So that is also available for people to come on board and that is, as a cost of N12,000 for an individual per year and N75,000 for the family of six.

We have now moved the Eko Telemedicine forward; instead of having to go to the hospital every time you just simply call. It’s a toll -free line you can use to speak to your doctor. Then if they feel that you need to go into the facility, you can now go in for care. So that is also available to the general public. That is something that will be working with one of the tertiary institutions in Lagos State very shortly to launch.

Following our mandate and since assumption of office of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the scheme has recorded over a 100 per cent increase in enrolment; from 5,000 lives to 623,183. Again, the number of providers has grown from 40 to 250, both the primary and secondary (public and private) healthcare providers.

Governor Sanwo-Olu’s support and how EKOTELEMED was born

To ensure that we deliver care in the height of COVID, one of the first activities was to establish some sort of system that would keep people away from the hospital and would be able to cater for their needs. So with the approval of Mr. Governor of course, the agency established what we call EKOTELEMED, which is the state’s telemedicine platform. That platform was mandated to provide virtual healthcare to Lagos residents free of charge at the time. People don’t need to walk into a hospital except if it is an emergency and we have doctors speaking all the languages 24 hours to attend to you. So we reduced essentially the people that were going into the hospitals and tried to at least do our bit with regards to reducing the spread of COVID; that telemedicine has now grown to become the backbone of the scheme.

And we’ve also established what we call the public servant sinking fund, which helps to provide additional services over and above the standard plan which they are on right now. That is the Ilera Eko standard plan. So, if you are a public servant and you have something else that is outside of that plan, you write to the agency and it’s brought to our attention; those things that are within the bouquet, we can now do that for the public servants. So that is also an achievement.

Governor Sanwo-Olu has been extremely supportive of the agency. This was one of his campaign promises and he has been very consistent in ensuring that this agency tries to deliver on its mandate in terms of expanding Universal Health Coverage across the state. The agency, through collaborations, has provided health insurance for over 180,000 vulnerable and indigent residents of the state who have registered under ILERA EKO scheme.

Since 2021 till date, the state government, through the Equity Fund, has approved and released a total of N750,000,000 equity funds for the payment of health insurance premiums of the vulnerable residents of Lagos State. As part of efforts to monitor the quality of care delivered to our enrollees, we piloted a quality monitoring programme by engaging 20 quality officers who are responsible for effective monitoring of the quality of care rendered under the scheme and engagement of 5 full-time quality officers as divisional officers.

Also, through EKOSHA, an innovative financing initiative designated to mobilise resources for vulnerable group, the state government flagged off of Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to onboard 55,000 poor and vulnerable on ILERA EKO. In collaboration with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the agency carried out the launch of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund to onboard 55,000 poor and vulnerable residents in the state on Ilera Eko. In 2021, the agency revised the LSHS marketing strategy, as part of an effort to increase awareness and uptake of the scheme, resulting in the creation of over 200 jobs and employment through the scheme. Currently, we have facilities that have up to 10,000 lives, 6,000, and 5,000.

Grassroots coverage and capturing the vulnerable

We have established a grassroots presence. So if you’re working with the grassroots, you have to be close to them. They have to have somewhere they can come and make inquiries, make their complaints and so on. So we started off in August last year. We established five divisional offices in the five divisions of the state. So, we have a whole team that sits in that office and they go out into that division. They are responsible for bringing lives in those divisions. We are actually delivering on that promise.

We are also partnering for instance with LASODA (Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs); that’s the Lagos state office for disability affairs and through them, we get more of the names of vulnerable disabled who we have quite a number of them currently on the scheme. With regards to the vulnerable, the state government has earmarked N750 million which has been disbursed so far. We just got the last chunk of the N750 million, which is N300 million and as I said, we are going to roll out into communities and start enrolling people; we are just in the planning stages now.