The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mrs Zainab Ahmed

  • To new ministers: Start as you mean to go on

    The die is cast and the second tenure of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is in full throttle. Critics looked favourably upon the time taken to the announcement of the ministerial list—even though the list leaves much to be desired—given that a 54-day wait is infinitely better than a 6-month wait.

    Screening exercise, portfolio assignment, and swearing-in ceremonies are now in the rear-view mirror and we look forward to the performance of the public servants over the next four years, barring unforeseen circumstances.

    Remarkable among the portfolios allotted to the ministers is the saddling of Mrs. Zainab Ahmed with the task of National Planning and Budgeting combined in addition to her previous responsibility of overseeing the nation’s finance. The enlarged portfolio certainly casts a heavier burden on the honourable minister who already had her work cut out. However, more surprising than Mrs. Ahmed’s new portfolio is the admission of the newly appointed Minister of Interior, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola, that he is not fully acquainted with the responsibilities of his office.

    The early signs from both ministers are inauspicious but their ministries remain immensely critical to the overall wellbeing of the nation, and as such it is imperative that they put their best feet forward from inception.

    Over the years, the deep-rooted anomalies in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)—a commission within the ambit of the Ministry of Interior—have all but abated. In fact, they are waxing stronger than ever. The heinous activities perpetrated in the commission range from outright circumvention of the vaunted Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy under the command of Mrs. Ahmed’s ministry—to bribery of officials and over-complication of the passport procurement process. There is no gainsaying the fact that the rot in the NIS is fostered and relished by a syndicate of villainous public officials.

    Nigeria’s social media sphere, Twitter and Facebook particularly, is constantly imbued with complaints from citizens centred on their travails at the hands of immigration officers in the process of securing or renewing their international passports. Residents rehash their travails at the hands of immigration officers for failing to accede to overtures for bribes to expedite the passport collection or renewal process. They offer their services as ‘’assistance’’ but the catch is that money must change hands for it to become active. Alternatively, citizens can go about the process without aid but the chances of obtaining their booklets promptly are zero to none.  The winding procedure is made inordinately tedious to ensure that everyone follows suit by soliciting the help of an official or their street vendors.

    These officials are often enabled by the interminable shortage of passport booklets, which they happily peddle to applicants in order to assume the form of liberators and hoodwink them into parting with their hard-earned cash. The corrupt practices are habitually perpetrated in the commission despite the presence of the Service Compact with all Nigerians (SERVICOM), a body formulated to promote efficiency and effectiveness in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at their offices. Even though SERVICOM is unapproving of the malfeasance, it has come to accept it as standard procedure and does little by way of ending the despicable practice.

    The perceptible absence of the Remita/federal government payment gateway raises a number of questions that cannot be left unanswered anymore. First, are the ministers of finance and interior aware of the undertakings of the commission? If yes, does it mean that the agency has been excluded from the TSA because no platform except from Remita-FG gateway has access to the account? If not, how do they intend addressing the malaise? Are the listed payment gateways connected to the Remita-FG gateway like others are?  Finally, how do they intend to mop up the last pockets of corruption in their agencies?

    With the performance of TSA in its four years of full implementation, any possible subversion of the policy must be thoroughly investigated and thwarted in its entirety. Nigeria cannot afford to be plunged back into the despondency that characterised previous administrations as a result of lax public financial management which foreran the deployment of MDAs as vessels of corruption. Profit generating MDAs such as the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation should be fully compliant to the policy, and if for some administrative purposes they seek exemptions, that also must be publicly justified.

    • By Jeff Ogbeh

    Makurdi, Benue State

  • No agreement with IMF on removal of fuel subsidy – Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday refuted media reports that the Federal Government had agreed with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) advice on the removal of fuel subsidy.

    The minister stated this when she fielded questions from State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) which was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    She said that the government could only remove subsidy on fuel after having enough buffers to cushion the negative effects of the removal on ordinary citizens.

    “Let me say that last week when we had the IMF/World Bank meeting, there was just one interactive session with Nigerian journalists.

    “We didn’t have any session to discuss subsidy. It was in an interview that someone raised a question based on the Article 4 Report of the IMF.

    “What they asked was whether we were going to remove fuel subsidy and whether we agreed with the IMF’s conclusion on subsidy removal.

    Read also: Long fuel queues amid IMF’s call for subsidy removal

    “So, let me say that everywhere in the world where IMF does its review, it will always give advice because that’s the purpose of the review.

    “And their advice is when you give subsidy – whether it is fuel or power, their advice is always ‘look at how you can exit doing that’. And that’s the same advice they gave Nigeria.

    “So, when I was asked, I said we agreed with that advice. We need to find how we can exit fuel subsidy. But how do we do that?

    “We do that only when we have enough buffers to cushion the effects of the removal for our people.

    “It is up to the Executive in support with the legislature to agree on what those buffers are,’’ she added.

    The minister maintained that even though the government periodically discussed the issue of subsidy under the Economic Management Team, it never contemplated removing the subsidy.

    “We should not be contemplating removing the subsidy because, indeed when we do, there will be people that will suffer. So, we are not yet there.

    “We discussed this periodically under the Economic Management Team. But we still haven’t found a formula that works for Nigeria. And you know that Nigeria is unique. What works for Ghana might not work here.(NAN)

     

  • Amnesty coming for owners of undeclared foreign assets, ministers assure

    NIGERIANS with assets and investments overseas who failed to declare such in a bid to evade paying taxes have been promised amnesty by the Federal Government.

    Ministers for Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami and his Finance counterpart, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, gave the hint in Abuja yesterday while unveiling the “Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS).”

    Malami explained that, just like the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), the rationale for the VOARS is to provide an opportunity for taxpayers or amnesty for tax defaulters to voluntarily declare their offshore assets and income from sources outside Nigeria relating to the preceding 30 years of assessment.

    The AGF said that anyone, who voluntarily declare his/her offshore assets will be entitled to “permanent waiver of criminal prosecution for tax offences and offences related to the offshore assets, penalties and interests concerning such declared offshore assets.

    He added that such Nigerian will enjoy “immunity from tax audit of the declared and regularised offshore assets; waiver of interest and penalties on the declared and regularized offshore assets.”

    Malami added that those who voluntarily declare will “receive from Federal Government of Nigeria an Offshore Assets Regularisation Compliance Certificate on the declared and regularised offshore assets.

    Read also: I’ll base appointment of new ministers on merit, spread — Buhari

    “Be free to use or invest their duly regularised residual offshore assets in any manner in Nigeria or overseas and be subject only to annual tax to Federal Government of Nigeria on the income earned on such residual offshore assets.”

    The AGF expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will grant an extension since, the scheme, meant to last a year, beginning from October last year was just being unveiled.

    Malami said the legal basis for VOARS exists in the Executive Order 8 (EO8) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8, 2018.

    He said the EO8 also provides the legal basis for a group, the Swiss Consortium to approach third-party holders of offshore funds, with a view to accessing information on the owners.

    The minister said the third party intended in the scheme include: banks, estate managers, auditors and accountants.

    Mrs. Ahmed said the introduction of VOARS aims to serve as an additional opportunity and mechanism for Nigerian citizens to continue to fulfil their tax obligations by extending the scope to offshore assets and foreign-sourced income.

    She said the EO8 provides a platform for taxpayers, who have defaulted in the payment of their taxes, to voluntarily declare all offshore assets and foreign-sourced income relating to the preceding 30 years of assessment.

    Mrs. Ahmed explained that the VOARS provides a one-year window, commencing from the October 8, 2018 for affected taxpayers to declare all offshore assets and foreign-sourced income without the threat of criminal prosecution for tax offences related to undeclared offshore assets.

    She added: “Through this scheme, it is our aim that the culture of accountability and I honesty in citizens to fully declare any income and assets owned will begin to grow and will encourage more citizens to readily come forward to declare without any threat of interrogation and/or prosecution.”

  • FG pays $5.4bn Paris Club Refund to states

     

    A total of 5.4 billion dollars has so far been paid to states by the Federal Government for settlement of the Paris Club Refund.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the release at a news conference on the state of the economy on Monday in Abuja.

    She said the Paris Club Refund was released to states in phases based on some conditions, which included that salaries and staff related arrears must be paid as a priority.

    Also, there must be commitment by all states to the commencement of the repayment of Budget Support Loans granted in 2016 and clearing of amounts due to the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.

    Ahmed said the Federal Government had also settled inherited debts despite the revenue shortfall experienced within the last three years.

    The finance minister said aside the 5.4 billion dollars used to pay states over deductions made from the Paris Club debt, 6.8 billion dollars was used to settle Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.

    She also said that contractors being owed N1.9 trillion under the Export Expansion Grants were on the verge of being settled.

    In addition, she said that about N488 billion spent by state governments on road projects had also been paid.

    Similarly, she said that as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to ensure all pensioners get their entitlements, the ministry had released N54 billion to settle outstanding pension arrears in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

    She noted that the government had settled pension claims up to March 2017.

    Ahmed announced that the federal government had agreed to pay about N571 million as gratuity to 175 retired police officers affected by the Biafra war.

    In the area of expenditure performance, the finance minister said that in 2018, despite the revenue shortfall, the federal government had been able to pay salaries and fully service its debt obligations.

    She said as at Dec. 21, 2019, the ministry had released overhead funding for seven months, while N995 billion had been released for capital projects.

    She expressed optimism that the ministry would perform better during the rest of the budget year by driving up revenue generation to improve the fiscal space for spending.

    To increase revenue, she said the federal government would be implementing more public financial management reforms.

    “We will improve collaboration between our revenue collection agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service and other trade partners, to share information and intelligence that will help improve revenue and make collections more efficient.

    “Under my tenure as the Finance Minister, I intend to continue championing such digitalisation transformation initiatives that have proven to be a good way forward for our revenue generation drive,” she said.

    When asked what are some of the taxes that would be affected by the planned increase in tax rate, the minister said that the government would from next year begin the implementation of taxes on luxury items.

    She said: “We are exploring the way to increase taxes as well as reduce taxes in some sectors.

    “For Small and Medium Enterprises, what will happen is to reduce taxes. But there are some special taxes that we will be looking at imposing.

    “For example, luxury taxes. If you have a private jet, we will be taxing you especially for that. If you have a yacht, we will be charging you for that and also in terms of excise duties there are also some new areas where excise duties will be introduced.

    “We haven’t got all the approvals but one of the major areas might be that of carbonated drinks produced in the country,” she said.

    Ahmed also said that the government had also recorded an increase in the number of registered tax payers from 10 million in 2015 to about 19 million in 2018 under the Joint Tax Board.

    On the whistle blower policy, Ahmed said that the Federal Government had recovered over N8.5 billion and 465 million dollars, among others, from 1,051 investigations conducted from tip offs received.

    She also said that through the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, over N35 billion was recovered while significant increase was also recorded in the country’s tax base.

    In the area of fiscal collaboration with state governments, the finance minister said that the federal government had provided budget support to states with a release of N1.9 trillion.

    This, she noted, was to enable the state governments meet their salary and pension obligations, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues over the last two years.

    Earlier, Fowler, who also spoke at the briefing, said that out of the 2,000 property of corporate entities identified early this year that were not paying taxes, 561 of them had come forward to make payments.

    He said 116 companies claimed not to own any of these properties, adding that 30 of them had actually written to the FIRS that the property in question do not belong to them.

    Fowler said based on the law, the property would be taken over by the government. (NAN)

  • Nigeria ranked 152 in global human development index – UNDP report

    Nigeria ranked 152 in global human development index – UNDP report

    …says country records 13.1% improvement in last ten years

    Nigeria has been ranked 152 amongst the 193 United Nations (UN) member states in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) for 2016 released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

    The country is followed closely by Cameroon in number 153 and Zimbabwe in 154 position.

    The report places Nigeria below neighbouring Ghana which is placed 139, Gabon, 109, Zambia also in 139, Equitoria Guinea, 135.

    The report however showed a positive outlook for the country as it revealed 13.1 % increase in human development in the last ten years under review (2005-15).

    NDI indicates the number of people with access to education and other basic amenities. Human development is about enlarging freedoms so that all human beings can pursue choices that they value. HDI is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development
    The global report was officially launched on 25th, March 2017 in Stocklom, while the Nigeria version was launched Tuesday.

    According to the report, Norway tops the log as the number one country in the Hunan Development Index and it’s closely followed by Switzerland and Australia which came joint second, Germany on the fourth position and Denmark number five.

    Speaking at the public presentation of the Report in Abuja yesterday, UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Edward Kallon, called for an urgent action by the government to sustain the gain.

    “The report shows that between 2005 and 2015, Nigeria’s HDI increased from 0.466 to 0.527 – a 13.1 percent increase.

    “This is encouraging, but given the humanitarian challenges already alluded to, and the economic recession witnessed in 2016, there is an urgent need to design policies and programmes to ensure that the upward trend in human development is not reversed.

    “As the 2014 HDR aptly noted success is not automatic and gains are not necessarily permanent,” he said
    He noted that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recently launched by the Federal Government outlined several medium-term policies and programmes that could keep Nigeria on a positive development trajectory.

    He said that the ERGP focused on restoring growth, investing in people and building a globally competitive economy.

    Kallon pledged the UNDP commitment to supporting both the Federal and State Governments in implementing programmes addressing the simultaneous eradication of poverty and signi ficant reduction of inequalities and exclusion in Nigeria.

    He described UNDP as the UN’s lead agency with a mandate to eradicate poverty, and promote sustainable human development everywhere in Nigeria.

    According to him UNDP has produced several National HDRs focusing on various issues defining development in Africa’s largest economy.

    He said that the reports would continue to shape policy interventions and public debate around many development issues affecting millions of people in the country.

    “The economic growth is necessary but not sufficient condition for human development; it is possible to achieve high levels of human development even with modest levels of growth.

    “What matters is the source and spread of growth; and how growth is managed and distributed for the benefit of everyone,” he said.

    He said that addressing the twin problems of economic recession and humanitarian crisis facing the country called for tough policy choices.

    “We should utilise the opportunity provided by the national launch of this report to promote policy dialogue, at both national and sub-national levels.

    “To enrich programmes aimed at implementing the ERGP and Growth Plan, the SDGs and AU’s Agenda 2063 to ensure that human development is realised for everyone and that no one is left behind,” he said.

    Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed in her remarks said the launch of the report was timely.
    She however warned that the current humanitarian crisis in the North East is capable of reversing the gain if not properly addressed.

    She said, “The downturns in 2016 occasioned by the weak growth of investment, trade and productivity as well as the humanitarian crises are capable of infusing a reversal trend if not curtailed early.

    “​It is common knowledge today that violent extremism is the greatest threat to human improvement, especially the achievement of inclusive growth as put forward by the UNDP’s principle of Universalism. Following the Arab Spring which was initially thought of as a Mediterranean issue, violent extremism has engulfed the Lake Chad region, taking its toll on lives and property in North East Nigeria. Over 14 million people are affected with 1.8 million internally displaced persons to carter for in the three most affected States.”

    She stressed that human development could also be elusive when there is insecurity and deprivation.

    “Human Development cannot be for everyone in a situation where 14 million people are insecure and deprived,” he said.

    Mrs. Ahmed however commended President Muhammadu Buhari’ Administration for reducing the level of violence in the country.

    He noted, “the level of violence has been significantly scaled down but over 4.4 million people in the region need food, clothing and shelter. The Government of Nigeria has mobilised available resources to ameliorate the situation.

    Speaking on the report, she said it provided an independent and data-based analysis of why certain groups tend to be more disadvantaged and highlights the persistent barriers to achieving sustainable human development for all.

    She said it also came on the heels of the recently launched NERGP which she said would define the country’s economic trajectory for the next four years, by ensuring sustained, inclusive and diversified growth.

    “The Report comes as Nigeria works to actively implement programs aimed at meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, both at the Federal and State levels,” she said.

    The minister said Government was working proactively to address the current economic challenges facing the Nation, and to implement policies and programmes that promote human development.

    According to her the programmes would ensure that `no one is left behind’.

    “We will also strive to ensure that the disadvantaged communities receive the extra support they need. This includes those living in conflict affected areas, women and girls, and rural communities.

    “Government is striving to ensure that human development progress is more resilient to shocks, such as epidemics, economic challenges, conflicts.

    “This is being done through the development and implementation of sound policies and through social investment programmes,” she said

  • Nigeria spends N1.1tr on debt servicing

    Nigeria spends N1.1tr on debt servicing

    The Federal Government spent N1.094 trillion on debt servicing between January and September last year, the Minister of State, Budget and National
    Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said.

    She gave the statistics yesterday while presenting the draft 2016 budget implementation and performance monitoring report for the third quarter of last year at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    The figures showed that N1.044 trillion was devoted for local debt servicing, while  N50.22 billion went into external debt servicing.

    External debt stock stood at $11.583 billion, representing an increase of $320.70 billion (or 2.85per cent) from external debt stock in the second quarter of last year, and an increase of $965.24 billion (or 9.09 per cent) over the $10,618 billion documented in the third quarter of 2015.

    Mrs Ahmed said: “The increase in the external debt stock in the third quarter of 2016 was due largely to the rise in Non-Paris Club Bilateral Debts drawdown.”

    She also said government’s revenue dropped by over 60 per cent due to uncertainties in global oil prices, which was worsened by crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and militancy in the Niger Delta region.

    She said non oil revenue improved by 9.47 per cent to N777.37 billion in the third quarter of 2016 from N709.96 billion same quarter in the previous year, adding that government largely borrowed from domestic sources to fund capital projects last year, which it must ensure does not continue.

    She said N987.17 billion was available for distribution between the three-tiers of government in the third quarter, with a 30 .96 per cent shortfall of N442.73 billion.

    Mrs. Ahmed said there were no transfers  made to the Excess Crude Account (ECA) in the first two quarters of the year following the fall in global oil price and supply constraints, stating that N145.48 billion was transferred to the account in the third quarter due to price recovery.

    She said N85. 17 billion was withdrawn from the ECA for distribution among the three tiers of government within the quarter, leaving a balance of $2.89 billion balance as at September 20, pointing out that government spent N586.24 billion on its non debt recurrent expenditure in the third quarter, with a decrease of N75.36 billion below its third quarter estimate of N661.60 billion.

  • 2017 budget: FG orders MDAs to submit budget through web portal 

    2017 budget: FG orders MDAs to submit budget through web portal 

    As the 2017 budget preparations kicks off, all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government have been directed to submit their budgets to a designated web portal domiciled in Budget Office.

    This is a departure from the old practice of MDAs submitting their annual budgets through flash drive to the Budget office. This new development is to avoid hitches of 2016 budget creeping in to next year’s budget while the budget office will review it on line and send it back on line after corrections have been effected.

    This disclosure was made by the Minister of state in the Budget Ministry, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed Thursday in Abuja. The new process of submitting budget by MDAs, the minister added, was designed to limit human interface and ensure better quality 2017 budget.

    She also disclosed that the federal government has achieved 41.25% in 2016 budget implementation as of October 2016 with a total disbursement of N2.5 trillion.

    Speaking in an interview with financial journalists in Abuja at the 2nd presidential economic communications workshop, the Minister also confirmed that the 2017 budget is ready but the executive is waiting for the approval of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) currently in the custody of the National Assembly for approval.

    According to her, “we planned 2017 budget very carefully by putting in place an IT system that minimizes human interface in the budget process to make 2017 Budget a very high quality budget. We now have a web portal where by ministries prepares their  budget and submits on line and the budget office reviews it on line and send back via  online where corrections would be made. This will reduce significantly the human interface to ensure we have a high quality budget.”

    She said the executive arm was ready with 2017 budget, but   waiting for the National Assembly’s approval of MTEF before   its submission   to the National Assembly.

    With regards to the current budget, the minister said the 2016 has been very challenging to the federal government in terms of revenue receipt and budget implementation.

    According to her, “it’s been very challenging for us. Apart from the fact that we are in recession, we have some of our people facing humanitarian crisis in the North East.  The Niger Delta crisis has pruned down revenue from oil and gas. We have a lot of projects that we planned to do but the revenue yield is not as we projected in the budget and this is largely due to vandalism of major oil infrastructures in  Niger Delta region.  We have minimal revenue but we have a lot of plans to share and allocate resources”, said Mrs. Ahmed.

    On what has been disbursed from the 2016 budget, she said the, federal government has released about N2.5 trillion of N6.06 trillion 2016 budget. Of the releases, she said N753 billion is for capital projects, a significant portion of which was devoted to infrastructure and related projects. N108 billion for overheads, N117 billion as statutory transfers, N142 billion for Consolidated pension, N1.2 trillion for personnel and N135 billion for service wide.

    The minister also revealed that, the government is currently developing a National Economic Recovery plan covering 2017- 2020.  The plan, she said would guide preparation of annual budgets and guide the Economic Management Team and budgeting process over short term to medium term.

     

  • 2016 Budget: FG strengthens monitoring and evaluation process

    2016 Budget: FG strengthens monitoring and evaluation process

    The Federal Government is now strengthening its monitoring and evaluation framework towards ensuring effective monitoring of ministries, departments and agencies’ compliance with the objective of the 2016 budget, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has said.

    Speaking while receiving Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai who paid a courtesy call to her office, she emphasized the Federal Government’s determination to achieve all the laudable goals of the 2016 budget.

    “We are now strengthening our Monitoring and Evaluation Department, especially through staff training and retraining, including the application of accountability and transparency principles in our operation; DFID, UN and the World Bank are giving us support in this exercise.

    “We have started the strategic implementation plan on 2016 budget, developed the Medium Term Expenditure Frame Work (MTEF), working very hard towards economic diversification and infrastructural development,” Mrs Ahmed stated.

    Proudly recollecting the capabilities of El Rufai who is her foster brother, she noted that the governor has consistently outperformed many others, adding that her ministry will always solicit for his advice and guidance towards managing current economic challenges.

    “Wherever you have worked, no one surpassed your standard; since you left Federal Capital Territory (FCT) , no one has measured up to  your achievements.
    “Kaduna State today, you have ranked it as a state to be copied in development strides, as a useful resource person,” she added.

    Earlier, Governor has revealed plans to restructure his state’s Ministry of Budget and Planning into a Budget and Planning Commission, under an arrangement whereby the staff will enjoy better remunerations and excluded from posting to other ministries while their professional budget and planning skills will be enhanced.

    Governor El- Rufai further described both Senator Udo Udoma and Mrs Zainab Ahmed as ministers, noting that the Ministry of Budget and National Planning is in good hands under such ministerial functionaries.

  • 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.
  • ‘$2.6b recovered in oil, other extractive sector’

    ‘$2.6b recovered in oil, other extractive sector’

    About $2.6billion out of the $9.6billion trapped in the petrochemical, mining and manufacturing among other areas in the extractive sector, has been recovered, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative Industries (NEITI), Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said.

    She said the extractive sector is of importance to the nation, adding that there is the need to reduce corruption in the sector.

    She said: “NEITI Report uncovered $9.8 billion discrepancies in 10 years. $2.6 billion has been recovered so far. The need for citizens to demand accountability was laid bare in the report.’’

    Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Seven Energy, Jeffrey Corey, said the country has huge gas reserves, urging the Federal Government to make good use of it.

    He said the nation’s gas potential could bring the desired economic growth, adding that the natural gas needs to be developed. He urged the government to explore opportunities in the extractive industry.