The Nation Newspaper

Tag: declaration

  • A welcome declaration

    A welcome declaration

    • By Jaiyeola J. Lewu

    Nigeria is blessed with a huge landmass and over 80 million hectares of arable land for crop production. Unfortunately, it is left uncultivated while the demand for food outstrips the supply, a situation that would not have occurred had the land been cultivated.

    Another debilitating issue has been insecurity in the country. Since the menace of Boko Haram and other terrorist gangs in the country began, farmers have been prevented from going to their farms to cultivate their crops. In some instances, farmers are forced to pay rent or royalty to terrorists in order to be allowed to engage in crop production, and even where they are allowed, they are forced at gunpoint to give up large portions of their harvests or pay up before harvesting.

    Due to climate change, early rains have started in earnest in many places since the end of February and have continued into March. Consequently, Nigerian farmers are looking up to both the federal and state governments to effect the establishment of the proposed agro-rangers who will provide some security assurance to them in order to return to their farms.

    It is disheartening to hear of the donation of wheat grains to Nigeria by war-torn Ukraine which is fighting a serious war with Russia, a superpower, despite our capacity to feed ourselves.

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared an emergency on agriculture with the hope that there would be food security in the short and medium terms. So far, there appears to be no strategic planning or programme tied to the emergency; no concrete action has emerged towards actualizing the aims of the declaration.

    The main thing that we hear or see is the release of palliatives of grains from government silos which constitute only a meagre drop in the ocean.  We hear the promise of the president to cultivate over 150,000 hectares of arable land in each state of the federation.  There are no signs that equipment has been deployed to clear the land so that planting can start and the effort to prevent the spread of hunger.

    Every passing day, the news media report that millions of Nigerians are hungry.  That is unhealthy, socially and politically.  As the saying goes, “A hungry man is an angry man.”

    Many Nigerians have resorted to scouting around the cities in search of warehouses, particularly those of NEMA, in an attempt to find out where foodstuffs are kept so as to cart away bags of rice, cooking oil, and other commodities. The attacks on food storage facilities have now escalated to highway robbery of trucks suspected of carrying food items including spaghetti, macaroni, rice, and other food items.

    Demonstrations have continued in many parts of the country including those of the labour unions, market women, students, and some other civil society organizations, against hunger and mounting food prices.

     The situation might not have come to this stage if the government had in 2022 heeded to predictions of a looming food crisis in the country.

    In my article in The Nation of June 4, 2022, I wrote about the looming mass hunger in Nigeria and the need at that time for urgent preventive actions against food scarcity, and also against cattle herders that were rampaging farmlands across Nigeria.

    I urged the government to retrieve silos for strategic food reserves from the Commodity Exchange that leased them and stressed the importance of assisting farmers with fertilisers and quality seeds.

    I called attention to the US $1.2 billion loan signed by Nigeria with a consortium of lenders, namely: the Deutsche Bank, the Islamic Organisation Bank, and the Brazilian Development Bank, which was to provide Nigeria with 10,000 tractors, 500 equipment and 623 service centers in the 774 local government areas, and create 100,000 jobs.

    If the loan was conscientiously put into what it was meant for, Nigeria’s food crisis and hunger that are now unfolding and raging in the country might have been averted.

    In 2023 when I observed that the items for which the loan was obtained had not been supplied, I wrote another article titled: “To Forestall A Looming Food Crisis in Nigeria”, which was published in March 2023 in The Nation, calling for former president, Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a Panel of Inquiry into the whereabouts of the $1.2 billion loan or the 10,000 tractors, 500 equipment and 623 service centers in 774 local government areas of Nigeria.

    I suggested that the panel should comprise the following – the ministries of finance, budget and planning, agriculture and food security, justice and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    In addition, the consortium of the three banks were to be included in the panel.

    Unfortunately, President Buhari apparently did nothing about it.  Undeterred, on August 3, 2023, shortly after the inauguration of President Tinubu, I reprised the matter, asking him to set up the panel which his predecessor failed to do.

    Had the loan or the tractors and equipment been acquired and put to effective use, there would have been no need for the Presidential Declaration on Agriculture which so far has not shown any positive effect on the country’s food security.

    Prices of food, goods, and services have skyrocketed, following the removal of petroleum subsidies and the collapse of the naira vis-à-vis foreign currencies. Even the prices of goods and services that do not depend on foreign currencies are pegged to the exchange rates of those currencies.

    Read Also: No ransom paid for school children’s release – Fed Govt

    The time has now come for both the federal and state governments to encourage and assist farmers through inputs availability and price reduction. The Commodity Boards that President Tinubu promised to set up to assure farmers reliable markets and prices for their produce should be inaugurated without delay.

    Such assistance and assurance would no doubt result in higher productivity and higher incomes for farmers.

    It is essential that President Tinubu should set up an investigative panel to locate and retrieve the syndicated loan from whoever has been sitting on it, and the tractors and other equipment it was supposed to provide.

    If the package recently announced by the Minister of Agriculture is different from the one contained in the 2020 Agreement, it will be a welcome development, which should be an integral part of his Renewed Hope Agenda.

    •Dr Lewu served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

    •Olatunji Dare AT HOME ABROAD returns next week.

  • Senate seeks declaration of June 12 election results

    SENATORS resolved yesterday to request the electoral agency that conducted the 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola to declare the results.

    The military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida halted the tally of the results and the announcement of the winner after states had released the results.

    Gen. Babangida, for no just reason, annulled the results and declared the election invalid.

    The resolution of the Senate followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the posthumous award of GCFR to Chief MKO Abiola.

    Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun Central) drew the attention of the Senate to the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day by President Buhari.

    He prayed the upper chamber to acknowledge the feat achieved by President Buhari in his recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day.

    He said the time was ripe for reconciliation in the country as was demonstrated by President Buhari in his recognition of Abiola and Babagana Kingibe for their roles in the June 12 election.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki agreed that reconciliation was long overdue in Abiola’s matter.  .

    Saraki hoped that honouring  Abiola would go a long way to heal the wounds inflicted by the annulment of the June 12,1993 election.

    Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) raised another motion – that the debate of  the proclamation  of  June 12 as Democracy Day should be thrown open for others to contribute.

    She praised Buhari’s courage  recognising  the June 12 election and added that the result of the election should be announced and Chief Abiola and Kingibe declared President and Vice President.

    Olujimi said only the result’s announcement would make Buhari’s gesture not be taken as a Greek gift.

    She said that after the announcement of the result of the June 12 election, reparation should be paid to the family members of Chief Abiola and to Kingibe.

    Senate Leader  Ahmed Lawan said on June 12, 1993, Nigerians voted for a candidate of their choice without ethnic colouration.

    Lawan said it was obvious that President Buhari uplifted Nigerians’ spirits by recognising June 12 as Democracy Day.

    He prayed the Senate to be supportive of the President’s declaration while encouraging Nigerians to always vote for candidates on their merits.

    He said that Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) senators might want to make a caricature of what the President did.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who also commended President Buhari for the recognition of June 12, quoted Section 135 of the Constitution to insist that May 29 of every year must remain the date of inauguration of elected officers.

    Ekweremadu said since President Buhari had elected to redress injustices in the country, he should go the whole hog to address injustices wherever they exist.

    Ekweremadu supported that the electoral agency should be prevailed upon to release the results “so that Chief Abiola will be known as president and Kingibe vice president of Nigeria”.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said the Executive should quickly bring to the National Assembly the Act dealing with posthumous awards for amendment to accommodate Buhari’s announcement.

    Abaribe (Abia South) proposed that December 31, 1983 be declared democracy destruction day “because this is the same day this same President staged a coup to remove elected government of President Shehu Shagari”.

    Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North) raised a point of order to the effect that Abaribe’s motion should be discountenanced because it introduced matters not related to the subject under discussion.

    Saraki sustained the point of order.

    Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) said that although Abiola deserved the honour , the rule of law should always be followed.

    Melaye said a dead man should not be considered a citizen of the country.

    Saraki ruled that the good intention in the recognition of June 12 should be taken.

    He noted that though there might be imperfections, the good intention should be taken.

    The Senate subsequently adopted that the result of the June 12, 1993 should be announced and resolved that:

    .Abiola’s and Kingibe ‘s entitlements should be paid; and that

    .May 29 remains the day of inauguration of elected officers.

  • Understanding voluntary asset and income declaration scheme

    A tax is extortion, albeit of a legitimate kind. As is common with all extortions, the taxpayers on whom lies the uneasy obligation to pay employ various devices both within and outside the ambit of the law to rid themselves of such burdens. This invariably gives rise to tax avoidance/evasion depending on the methods of tax planning adopted and the provisions of the law.

    In the same vein, taxpayers have become more sophisticated in trying to escape or rather, minimize their tax liabilities, with carefully laid out schemes that sometimes cut across state jurisdictions.  Equally, tax administrators have become shrewd and perhaps cynical by incorporating clumsy and cumbersome provisions in tax statutes in a bid to bring all taxable activities within the tax net as much as possible. Ultimately, the courts are left with the unenviable role of adjudicating disputes between taxpayers and tax administrators regarding the former’s potential tax liabilities.

    Notwithstanding this positional stand-off, most governments, realizing the revenue implications of this impasse, have been forced to explore other means of improving tax compliance by citizens. These measures typically include: sensitization of the public on the benefits of paying taxes, provision of tax incentives/waivers/amnesties, as well as focused negotiations with erring taxpayers on the amortization of their tax liabilities.

    VAIDS Policy

    The then Acting President – Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on  June 29, 2017 signed an executive order  introducing the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (the “Scheme”) to take effect from July 1, 2017.  The executive order was made pursuant to the constitution which provides that:

    It shall be the duty of every citizen to declare his income honestly to appropriate and lawful agencies and pay his tax promptly.

    The object of the Scheme is essentially to encourage and provide an opportunity for eligible taxpayers to, regularize their tax status for all the relevant years; pay all outstanding taxes; prevent and stop tax evasion; and, ensure full tax compliance

    The scheme covers all federal taxes including those administered by state agencies such as the Personal Income Tax.  Also, the scheme is mandated to provide a nine month period commencing from July 1, 2017 for defaulting taxpayers to declare their assets and income from sources within and outside Nigeria relating to the preceding six years of assessment.  The Executive Order also provides for certain requirements to be satisfied before the relevant taxpayer can take benefit of the scheme, such as the condition that the disclosures by the taxpayer should be voluntary, full, frank, complete and verifiable in all material respects.

    In return for compliance, certain benefits accrue to the taxpayer under the scheme, such as – immunity from prosecution for tax offences, immunity from tax audit, waiver of interest and penalties, option to spread payment of outstanding liabilities over a maximum period of three years as may be agreed with the relevant tax authority, among others.  However, non-compliance would attract the full sanctions and penalties as provided under the relevant tax statute.

    Lastly, the Executive Order not only provides for the confidentiality of all information supplied by the taxpayers under the scheme, but also prescribes penalties for any tax official or persons duly authorized to receive information under the Scheme who breaches the confidentiality of information received or exchanged under the Scheme.

    The window period of nine months within which erring taxpayers are to take advantage of the Scheme lapsed on March 31 without prejudice to any further extension by the government. However, upon a dispassionate evaluation of the impact of the scheme, there appears to be shortfalls in the attainment of its targeted goals and revenue expectations. For example, a total revenue of $1billion which is the equivalent of N305 billion was projected to be recovered under the scheme, but what has actually been recovered is N20 billion.  This leaves much to be desired.

    The reasons are not far-fetched. There is a lack of awareness of tax laws by the generality of the public. Only a few citizens are aware of their tax obligations and only a smaller fraction of this minority is aware of the scheme. More so, there is the prevalent misconception that the scheme is targeted exclusively at high net worth individuals and businesses.

    The scheme can only be successfully implemented by government from a position of strength and not that of perceived helplessness. It is of no use having laws that are not enforced, not least against tax offenders. For the scheme to achieve its anticipated outcomes, the government must be seen as prepared to invoke the tax laws to sanction those who attempt to evade the system. While the Federal Inland Revenue Service (“FIRS”) and the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (“LSIRS”) have consistently applied civil measures to enforce tax payment, criminal prosecution is rare and perhaps non-existent.

    There is a direct correlation between governance and tax compliance. For countries with highly transparent and accountable governments, the tax compliance rate is usually high.  However, for countries with endemic corruption especially in the public sector, the tax compliance rate is generally low.  The latter condition can partly be explained by the fact that the citizenry don’t feel the obligation to pay tax when they have not seen or felt the positive impact of government in their lives. Also, the news media is inundated with stories of scandals by public office holders who use public funds to finance their ostentatious lifestyles. These stories act as a disincentive to taxpayers who consider paying tax as “emptying their stream into government’s ocean of corruption”.

    The record keeping culture in Nigeria is poor to say the least. I am not aware of any records manual nor records retention and disposition schedule; personnel handling the records are not trained in records management, inadequate facilities for the preservation, storage, and retrieval of records, no filing manual, inadequate computers to manage the volume of records generated and the attitude of administrators towards records and records management constitute the problems of many public institutions in Nigeria. In addition, financial institutions such as banks which are required to intimate the tax agencies of transactions within a defined time threshold fail or are late to do so. Similarly, there is a lack of information sharing between various government agencies giving rise to a disharmonized state of affairs where useful information on taxpayers and taxable activities are disparately lodged in various servers and databases. This has seriously undermined tax administration and enforcement in the country.

    At six percent, Nigeria has one of the world’s lowest tax revenues to GDP ratios. This can be compared with countries like France with 45%, Belgium with 44.2%, Finland with 44.1%, Norway with 38%, Germany with 37.6%, South-Africa with 27%, and Mozambique with 26%. Closer to home, Ghana has a Tax to GDP ratio of 16%.  Also, as revealed at a Chartered Institute of Taxation forum, 80% of taxable adults in the Nigeria never pay tax. On the corporate front, 75% of companies are not registered with the FIRS for the mandatory Companies Income Tax and 65% of those registered are not up to date with tax filings.  In the same vein, it has been revealed that only 214 individuals remit personal income taxes of N20 million or above annually.  These statistics are alarming and indeed worrisome and may have informed the introduction of the scheme.

    The following recommendations are proposed as measures to tackling low tax compliance.

    First, there should be massive and continuous sensitization campaigns directed at the respective categories of taxpayers, educating them on the extant tax laws and their tax obligations under the said laws. Secondly, there should be a renewed drive in enforcing the provisions of the tax laws. The unjustifiable reluctance of tax administrators in applying the criminal provisions of the law on erring taxpayers should be discarded.

    Thirdly, corruption by public office holders should be decisively dealt with. Also, there should be a prudent spending of tax revenues on infrastructural projects, and tax payers should be provided with information on how their taxes are expended in a bid to enhance accountability and inspire confidence in governance.

    Fourthly, there should be an improved system of cooperation and data sharing amongst the various agencies of government. If possible, a centralized database where all records previously held by the various record collecting agencies are domiciled could be established.

     

    • Alao is a Lagos-based legal practitioner.

  • Private institutions don’t need emergency declaration, says VC

    The Vice Chancellor of Augustine University, Epe, Prof Steve Afolami has said private institutions should be left out of declaration of emergency proposed to be declared by the Minister of Education Adamu Adamu, in the education sector, next month.

    Afolami spoke during the third matriculation of the university for the 2017/2018 academic session held at the University auditorium in Ilara-Epe, Lagos State.

    He explained that private tertiary institutions provide high standard teaching, infrastructure and conducive environment for learning amongst others.

    “Private universities do not need any emergency measure because a high standard is prescribed and enforced before approval. Regular monitoring to keep the standard high is also ensured by the school and other regulatory bodies in charge.

    “However, an aspect of the emergency should involve the inclusion of Private Universities is the competitive scholarship and grant schemes of government as a way of increasing the attraction of students who hope to benefit from such competition. This is because the students are Nigerians, their parents pay tax and they are being trained for Nigeria.”

    On the issue of disbursement of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to private universities, Afolami said it would increase the number of students applying to faith-based institutions and have a positive effect on the school, staff and students.

    In his keynote speech on “Governance and Civic Obligation in Tertiary Institutions”, Prof Michael Faborode, former Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said that University governance requires bold and firm leadership, personified by a visionary Vice-Chancellor, who must be supported by all other functionaries towards achieving the institution’s vision.

  • 2019: Atiku to make formal declaration in two weeks

    2019: Atiku to make formal declaration in two weeks

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar will formally declare his intention to seek the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of next year’s election in a fortnight.

    The declaration is scheduled for Abuja, according to the National Chairman of Atiku Cares Foundation and Director Youth of Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation (AACO), Aliyu Bin Abbas.

    The former vice president was also at the Silverbird Cinema yesterday in Abuja to watch the much-talked about Black Panther film, where he paid for all those who were at the film house to watch the movie.

    Abbas broke the news yesterday at the launch of the Street to Street Support Initiative (SSSI) for Atiku 2019 and the inauguration of national, zonal and states officers of the organisation.

    “He nearly shed tears when he (Atiku) asked me to reschedule another engagement to represent him here as he was overwhelmed by the massive support given to him by Nigerians especially the youths in his 35-year experience of being a politician,” Abbas said.

    He added: “He has suffered a lot from the hand of politicians but is consoled by the increasing support by Nigerians. In two weeks’ time by Gods’ Grace he will formally open his campaign office in Abuja under the platform of the PDP.

    “His message is that it is high time for Nigerians to vote out those in government due to their failure of helping the country out of its predicament and only resort to propaganda; and use and dump tactics.”

    The former Vice President was at Silverbird, Jabi Mall, Abuja, to watch the almost entirely black cast and a young African-American director, Ryan Coogler. The movie has received rave reviews for its stereotype-busting portrayal of Africa.

    Atiku reportedly paid for the tickets of all those who had come to watch the film, according to a twitter user who twitted “So @atiku came to the movies Today and bought Tickets for everybody. Commendable.”

    The former vice president’s presence at the movies has sparked a debate on twitter with many describing the his appearance at the cinema as an act that shows he is a man of the people.

    A tweet by one @favourdesimhi said, “This is no surprise to me for I know him to be a kind hearted man. He will make a better president in 2019.” Another user, @Frankkyboi, said it’s because of election. But @GabrielEtenika maintained “It’s not about elections, doing good is part of him.”

  • DisCos: notice to BPE not force majeure declaration

    DisCos: notice to BPE not force majeure declaration

    The Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) yesterday explained that the notice they jointly sent to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was not a declaration of force majeure.

    A statement endorsed by the  Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributor (ANED) Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Barr Sunday Oduntan issued in Abuja yesterday, described the notice as a standard commercial agreement.

    According to the statement, the notice was based on the concerns that the DisCos that are already near bankruptcy, will further be tied to meeting the obligations of their performance agreement with BPE.

    Read Also: Why there is no electricity – Owan

    He said: “Indeed, the notice of force majeure submitted by the DisCos, in itself, is not a declaration of force majeure. It is standard to any commercial agreement, and is predicated on the concern that the DisCos, already on the verge of bankruptcy, will be further constrained in meeting the obligations of their performance agreements with BPE –  no difference from a previous situation in which the regulator, arbitrarily, removed collection losses from the DisCos’ tariff in April 2015, a contributor to the current market shortfall.

    “Unless we begin to see a consistency of sector governance, a critical requirement for the viability and sustainability of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), it is unlikely that we will achieve the objective of 24/7 power supply, an outcome that all Nigerians deserve.”

    The statement which was a sort of rejoinder, said that clarification followed recent notice of force majeure that were submitted to BPE by the DisCos as a result of the eligible customer regulation by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)).

  • Still on the Ibadan declaration

    Still on the Ibadan declaration

    Was my recent two-part piece, ‘Awo and the Ibadan Declaration’, in which I undertook a critical dissection of the proposals of a cross section of Yoruba leaders and interest groups for the far-reaching structural reconfiguration of Nigeria, an attempt to invoke the name of the great sage to silence those proponents of the Declaration who I reckoned would be hesitant to critique Awo’s ideas as I projected them? That was the suggestion of the highly revered  Yoruba politician , Honorable Olawale Oshun, in his logically  rigorous and philosophically engaging  response to my column on the subject published in this space three weeks ago.

    That was far from my mind. It would indeed have been quite discreditable of me to have attempted that. My preoccupation was not with Awo’s name and reputation as a weapon of psychological intimidation but the utilization of his ideas as stimulation for further reflection on the political and constitutional development of Nigeria.  I learnt much from Honourable Osun’s rejoinder but still remain convinced that Awo would have been most reluctant to abandon wholesale the extant 1999 constitution for a regression to the equally far less than perfect constitution of 1963.

    Now, there is nothing that suggests that Awolowo must be right all the time or that his thought and ideas must be cast in stone and reverenced as unquestionable scripture for eternity. Surely, the sage was no god. To worship rather than critically interrogate his ideas would be totally alien to his spirit of ceaseless intellectual inquiry and curiosity. Yet, such was the clarity of his thought and the depth of his insight that it is difficult to fault some of his key ideas over half a century after he formulated them. As I pointed out, he had punched holes in the parliamentary form of government enshrined by the 1963 constitution and had made a tightly argued case for a shift to the presidential system with an admixture of features of the French model long before the coming into being of the 1979 constitution.

    Yes, Awo wrote his ‘Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution’ and ‘The People’s Republic’, books in which he espoused his political, economic and constitutional ideas in 1966 and 1968 respectively. But he was alive during the second republic and witnessed the birth and collapse of that experience in civilian democratic governance after 13 years of military rule between 1966 and 1979. There is nothing that Awo wrote in his various lectures, speeches and books after the first republic up to his transition in 1987 that, to the best of my knowledge suggested that he ever contemplated a return to a parliamentary form of government as the best option for Nigeria. From what we know of him, it is unlikely that Awo would have offered himself to serve as President of Nigeria in the 1979 and 1983 general elections on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) without thoroughly studying the 1979 presidential constitution and coming to the conclusion that there was nothing in the constitution that inherently and incurably precluded great, visionary and productive governance.

    Let me note a pertinent point here. Awolowo undertook a thorough critique of the collapse of the first republic while in Calabar prison on the basis of which he made his constitutional proposals for the future peace, progress, prosperity and stability of Nigeria. Yes, he favoured a shift from the parliamentary to presidential form of government and the breakup of the regions into smaller states to protect the interest of minority interest groups. But from my reading of his ‘Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution’ in particular, I am of the view that Awolowo did not envisage what would have amounted to an absolute and revolutionary break with the 1963 constitution at the time he wrote and the complete jettisoning of the lessons and experiences – good and bad – of the first six years of independence for a completely new and novel constitutional experiment as happened in 1979. He argued that the failings of the first republic were as much a function of the behavioural lapses of the political actors of the period as they were of any inherent structural defects of the constitution.

    History has proven Awo right. The change from the 1963 parliamentary constitution of the first republic to the presidential constitution first of 1979 and currently in practice in this dispensation under the extant 1999 constitution has not eliminated the behavioural traits and attitudinal dispositions responsible for persistent constitutional breakdowns in Nigeria’s political history. It is not just a question of faulty constitutional structures but equally that of destructive and disruptive political cultures. Nothing suggests that a reversion to parliamentarianism and regionalism today will eliminate the same negative political behaviours that led to the collapse of the first republic and remain well and alive with us till now.

    There can be no short cut to political maturity and instant democratic development through some illusionary  cure-all constitutional miracle. A quiescent and passive civil society that placidly accepts political brigandage and corruption under a presidential system will be no different in a parliamentary dispensation. A timid populace that lazily succumbs to the political tyranny and brazen constitutional infractions of states and local governments will be even more helpless to tame far stronger and more distant regions in a ‘restructured’ polity.

    Honourable Oshun rightly notes and condemns the abuse of power by “the president, the governors and the Local Government Chairmen who have become tin gods exercising power of life and death over the citizenry” under the presidential system. But is the parliamentary system inured from such abuses? Have we forgotten the factors that resulted in the implosion of the First Republic? Let us refresh our memories with the words of the political scientists, Professors Remi Anifowose and Solomon Akinboye with regard to the breakdown of the 1963 constitution: “All available state apparatus (the army, the police and the judiciary), were employed by the power elites against their opponents. The major political parties in the country were engaged in the struggle not only to win and retain power but also to control the centre which was recognized as having all the dominant resources in spite of its weakness politically. Hence, all available means were employed to ‘grab’ power including the blatant rigging of elections, manipulation of census figures, violence, arson, corruption and acts of brigandage. These continued till the army seized power in January 1966 when it became obvious that the political class had lost control of governmental affairs”.

    There is absolutely no basis for the romantic and idyllic depiction today of the First Republic and its 1963 constitution as some sort of sweet paradise lost. The politics of the era was no less ‘short, nasty brutish and solitary’ in Hobbesian terms than that of the second republic. In some ways, there have even been some positive aspects of political development in the country today than what obtained in the first republic. For instance, the way the Federal Government abused its power to subvert and destabilize the Western Regional Government controlled by the opposition Action Group (AG) leading to the abortion of democracy and the onset of predatory military rule with the 1966 coup is not likely to be easily replicated today. No matter how much the APC controlled centre dislikes the guts of a governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, for instance, or the antics of an Ayo Fayose in Ekiti, the equivalent of a military takeover of an opposition state by the centre as happened in the West in the first republic has become a near impossibility.

    Yes, the present constitution in operation is far from perfect. No constitution will ever be. Yet, its defects are not inherently incurable. If we do not summon the will to fight and check corruption, abuse of office, legislative rascality, over-centralization, executive brigandage and sundry other ills within the present constitutional context, we are unlikely to do so no matter the kind of constitution we adopt.

  • ‘False declaration major problem for Customs’

    THe Comptroller–General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, has said false declaration of goods is the major headache for Customs in clearing containers within 24 hours.

    He said it was impossible to clear goods dishonestly declared by importers.

    Ali spoke at a stakeholders’ forum on improved service delivery organised by Oil & Gas Free Trade Zone Authority (OGFZA) in Onne, Rivers State.

    Ali said: “Our major problem today in the issue of clearing container within 24 hours is false declaration, many people are not honest in dealing with the Customs, how can someone bring in a container containing motor parts and rice but it was declared to be rice.

    “Last time we caught some containers loaded with arms and ammunition, if we didn’t do a thorough job they could have entered into the country. Only God knows how many trucks of such have entered and about to enter, we must do our job to safe this country.”

    OGFZA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Umana Okon Umana thanked the  Customs service   and stakeholders for their support to OGFZA in the implementation of the Federal Government policy on ease of doing business.

    Umana said: “Before the economic recession, the free zones had over 200 investors from 45 countries and generated more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.

    “ Between January 2010 and December 2015, Nigeria Customs Service generated N143,244,299,171.00 from its oil and Gas Free Zone activities alone while Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) also generated a total sum of $2,142,910,723.00 and N19,321,486,866.00.”

  • Olubadan Declaration Review a political, says Oyo govt

    Olubadan Declaration Review a political, says Oyo govt

    The Oyo State government has said the massive attendance and responses by various stakeholders to the current Olubadan Declaration Review panel vindicated its action on the review of the chieftaincy law.

    It noted that 91 of the 118 memoranda received during the open sessions requested for additional beaded crowns while the remaining 27 called for a review of ascendancy into the Olubadan stool.

    The government restated its position that the proposed review was not targeted at any individual or group of people.

    It said it is meant for the development, modernisation as well as growth of the traditional council of Ibadan city, Ibadan land and other parts of the state.

    It said change is the only constant in life, adding that all parties would be convinced of the sincerity of government’s proposition.

    The state government said its action was within the ambit of the law of Olubadan Declaration of 1957.

    It assured the stakeholders and other residents that it would be just and fair in examining the recommendations of the Justice Boade’s panel and align with the wishes of Ibadan residents.

    In a statement yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Mr. Toye Arulogun said the action of the government had precedence and was in tandem with the aspirations of the people.

    The statement reads: “It is high time we reiterated  our earlier position and put issues in proper  perspective. The action of the government is  backed by law; there are precedents. The governor  has the power to review the declaration and, most importantly, the government is fulfilling the  yearnings of the people.

    “We are not being political with this issue and not targeting any individual. The purpose is to elevate the status of the Olubadan title and pave the way for the development and modernisation of Ibadan chieftaincy and Ibadan towns and city. We are running an all-inclusive government and our government believes in collective responsibility in the Ajumose spirit.

    “Our decision to review the Olubadan Declaration of 1957 was a response to several calls by stakeholders and we will follow the principles of openness, fairness and justice.”

    Arologun said members of the Olubadan-in-Council, many high chiefs in Ibadan as well as stakeholders, including Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, Ibadan Elders Forum, Ibadan Progressive Union, Association of Recognised Mogajis, the warlords’ families in Ibadan and eminent individuals attended the sitting of the panel for three weeks.

    The commissioner said the panel received 118 memoranda during its sitting.

    He added that the panel concluded its sitting on June 23 and requested for four weeks extension.

  • CITN backs voluntary assets declaration scheme

    CITN backs voluntary assets declaration scheme

    The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) is fully in support of  Federal Government’s move to promote tax culture and expand the tax base, its President/ Chairman of Council, Cyril Ede has said.

    The support is coming based on the Executive Order signed by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, which provides a legal framework for the Ministry of Finance to set up the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme in collaboration with all 36 states of the federation.

    The scheme, he explained, was meant to bring more taxpayers into the tax net so as to enable them pay all outstanding taxes and the benefit to the tax payer is a waiver of interest and penalty as well as opportunity to pay taxes gradually up to a period of three years. The scheme will run for a nine-month period commencing from 1 July 2017.

    He recalled that the Institute has been in the vanguard of calling the government to declare tax amnesty wherein taxes due on incomes are demanded while the government forgoes the interest and penalties accruing. Such calls are contained in previous Annual tax conference communique and several advocacy efforts of the Institute with other bodies such as the National Association for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises among others.

    “Equally worthy of notice is the opening statement in the executive order acknowledging the duties of the State towards Citizens and their welfare.

    “This announcement, is therefore, a pointer to the fact that the government has a listening ear as it continues to aggregate the position of stakeholders in the tax space with respect to the broader and specific issues affecting poor voluntary tax compliance in the country,” he said.