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Tag: ActionAid Nigeria

  • ActionAid calls for transparency in disbursement of N1.6bn fund

    ActionAid calls for transparency in disbursement of N1.6bn fund

    ActionAid Nigeria, an anti-poverty agency, has called on Government to be fair and just in the disbursement of the N1.6 billion ecological fund to 16 states ravaged by flood across the country.

    The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Mrs Ojobo Atuluku, said in a statement on Friday that the intervention would lessen additional burden and pressure placed on the people as a result of the flood incidents.

    “While this intervention is commendable, some of the incidences that have put a lot of the citizens, especially the poor, in misery should have been avoided.

    “It is sad that despite its predictability, Nigeria put nothing in place to reduce the risk of flood disaster, even with the forecast of floods by its own metrological agency, the Nigeria Metrological Agency,” she said.

    Atuluku said that in 2012, N12 billion was released by the Federal Government for a similar purpose, yet failed to make much impact on the lives of those affected.

    She said that in spite of previous investment and intervention by the Federal Government, the most affected people were still left unattended to.

    “In order to ensure that the new fund is judiciously used and does not end up in the corruption net, the release of the N1.6 billion ecological fund should be accompanied by a transparent accountability framework.

    “We call on the Federal Government to restrain itself from releasing the fund to any of the states until they present with clarity, proposals and plans of how the fund will be utilised.”

    “Each of the states should be made to demonstrate how they will involve the affected communities, especially women; what Early Warning and Early Response (Early Action) Mechanism they will put in place to forestall future re-occurrence.

    “They should also demonstrate the framework they will put in place to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels – state, local government, and community, using knowledge, skills, innovation and education,” she said.

    The requirements, Atuluku said should include plans for strengthening disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels and plans to invest in capacity and equipment of state emergency management agencies.

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had directed the release of N1.6 billion to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for the 16 affected states.

    The states are Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Oyo, Lagos, Plateau, Sokoto, Edo and Bayelsa.

    The money is going to be taken from the Federal Government Ecological Fund Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria, while the Minister of Finance is to release the fund directly to NEMA.

  • ActionAid pleads with FG to strengthen anti-corruption agencies

    ActionAid pleads with FG to strengthen anti-corruption agencies

    The ActionAid Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to expedite actions in strengthening the anti corruption agencies by addressing concerns about lack of autonomy for the agencies.

    Prof. Patricia Donli, Chair of the Board of Directors of the organisation made the call at a news conference on the state of the nation in Abuja on Saturday.

    Donli said the frustration of trials by the Federal Government through the casual dismissal of serious allegations of corruption and abuse of office by certain public officers should be addressed.

    According to her, a strong system is very important to be able to fight corruption as well as monitoring and evaluation of the system.

    She also said that any act of corruption through the money that goes out of the system in the country affects children from going to school and should be fought collectively.

    “The government should address the enormous damage done to the EFCC in the past under the guise of fighting corruption in line with the rule of law.

    “As a matter of urgency expedite action on the governance structure on reinvesting of recovered funds back into the economy.

    “Prioritise inclusion of the reinvestment of the recovered funds in 2018 appropriation bill and vigorously pursue recovered of outstanding ones rather than embark on another round of external borrowing.

    “A strengthened anti corruption agencies will go a long way in the fight against corruption,’’ she said.

    She also called on the government to initiate programmes and actions aimed at ensuring citizens ownership of the war against corruption.

    She said that the organisation acknowledged the various effort of the Nigeria government in recent times to address the challenges that had confronted the nation’s economy.

    Also, Mrs Ojobo Atuluku, a board member stressed the need to have local government autonomy where services would be provided for its citizenry.

    She called on citizens to sit up and pressure leaders while holding them accountable for their actions.

  • Revenue leakages: FG to review its tax incentive policies

    The federal government plans to review its existing tax incentive policies further block revenue leakages.
    Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed made this disclosure on Monday at the sideline of the conference of African Ministers of Finance and Economic Planning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
    Ahmed said that with the current decline in oil revenue, the government had “begun strengthening our tax revenue collection agencies and processes. We are also expanding our tax base by trying to bring as many people and organisations that are in the informal sector not paying tax into the tax net.”
    She then added by that “we are also pulling back some of the waivers that we feel are absolutely unnecessary and are rather slowing down the economy and are simply a drain on our resources. We are also trying to bring in revenue that was not properly harnessed from the government owned entreprises who were before now, making money and spending it with little or no returns to the government.”
    Ahmed said the Buhari administration plans to continue to finance its subsequent budgets through non-oil sector revenue which was why it was very serious about blocking all leakages concerning tax.
    Also speaking at the event, Mr Tunde Aremu, the Head of Policy Advocacy and Campaign Manager, Actionaid Nigeria said if the government was looking at reviewing its tax policies, it should focus on tax concessions handed out to multinationals.
    He reiterated that “what Nigeria is losing through the granting of tax incentives is an average of 2.9 billion dollars every year. That is huge and unnecessary. We think it’s absurd that a country with a large population like Nigeria with purchasing power still thinks it needs to give tax incentives to attract investors.”
    Aremu cautioned that “Nigeria needs to look at its tax policies in terms of the types of provisions it has that gives concessions to multinationals and other laws guiding the granting of incentives in Nigeria. We’ve discovered that there are several agencies that play the role of granting incentives. This means we have several locations where treaties are being negotiated and signed.”
    Aremu said Nigeria needs to also revise its existing tax treaties signed with countries. He said some of these treaties have become an avenue for huge corporate bodies to evade paying taxes.

  • ActionAid commends Reps for passage of anti-violence bill

    ActionAid Nigeria has commended the  House of Representatives for the passage of the Prohibition of Violence Against Persons Bill.
    The anti-poverty agency, which prioritises issues of women rights in its intervention in poor peoples communities and among the urban poor stated in a press statement that by passing the bill on Thursday, “ the Nigerian parliamentarians have acted in such manner that raises hope that the socially disadvantaged and the poor can still look up to them for succour”
    According to the Women Rights Manager of ActionAid Nigeria, Patience Ekeoba, “members of the House of Representatives have acted in the most responsible way expected of representatives of the people”.
    “By this singular act, they have rekindled hope of the people in the parliament as hope of the poor. They have also written their names in history. Many people will not forget this seventh national assembly for this act”.
    She called on the Senate to follow suit and make a concurrent passage of the bill.

  • Governor, Ministers, stakeholders hold dialogue poverty

    Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, the Minister for National Planning, members of the national assembly, heads of government parastatals with mandate to address poverty and activists will on Tuesday, March 12 gather in Abuja for a high level national policy dialogue on poverty.
    The National Dialogue on Poverty, according to the orgernisers , ActionAid Nigeria,  is in response to” the obvious need for a rethink of the current response to poverty in Nigeria”.
     “The current Nigeria poverty profile, which incidentally is produced by a government agency, has shown that in spite of the many government policies and interventions on poverty, the incidence of poverty in Nigeria has worsened,” the Policy and Campaigns Manager of ActionAid Nigeria, Tunde Aremu stated.
     
    The worsening situation of poverty in the country, according to Aremu is a paradox given the fact that “in the last quarter of 2012, Nigeria’s GDP growth rate was put at 7.1 per cent.”
    “This is a feet none of the top economies in the world achieved at that time. In spite of its wealth, infant and maternal mortality index in the Nigeria is among the poorest in the world”
     
    This situation according to the anti-poverty agency though may not be as a result of lack of will on the part of government and its agencies to address the state of poverty in the nation, there is still an urgent need for a critical look at interventions currently in place.
    According to Aremu, “No doubt a lot of progress have been made in terms of development in the country, but it is important that there is an appreciation of the level of progress if the country must meet the goals of the MDGs and in a broader context achieve its Vision 20 2020.”
    The poverty dialogues according to ActionAid is therefore organised to “take a critical and result-driven look at the issue of failure of several interventions in poverty eradication and development in general.
    “It will also build consensus on what should constitute the appropriate strategy to deal with poverty in the country, while providing a platform for discourse on the challenges and realisation of the MDGs as it still presents one of the most encompassing framework for development”
    The poverty dialogue will feature a public discourse which  will  be led by an international specialist, Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, the Director of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP).