The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Revenue generation

  • ‘Taxes, levies enhance revenue generation’

    Chukwuemeka Eze is the Chairman of the Southeast Zone of the Tax Appeal Tribunal. A legal adviser to the Lagos Chapter of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Eze, in this interview with Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN AUACHUKWU, speaks on the challenges of tax administration, the place of tax in nation building and the way forward for Nigeria’s tax regime.

    On inauguration as the Chairman of the Tax Appeal Tribunal Southeast Zone.

    I feel like a fish in water.  I feel nostalgic and privileged. Since I became a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria  (CITN) in 2008, I have been hooked to taxation as a faithful wife is hooked to her lovely husband.

    My foundation having been laid on solid ground through CITN, taxation became a fundamental aspect of my law practice until 2017 when I migrated to lecturing at the Faculty of Law, Nasarawa  State University, Keffi. Even there, I am not insulated from taxation as one of my assigned courses is revenue and the law.

     Tax regime and laws.

     Eze said the tax regime is evolving; it is not gloomy as it was in the past. We have tax experts in all areas of tax practice and administration. A new National Tax Policy was birthed in February 2017 and that the tax laws are being implemented.

    The Tax Appeal Tribunal was reconstituted by the Minister of Finance on November 5, 2018. The database of taxpayers has increased from 14 million to 19 million after the implementation of tax amnesty known as Voluntary Assets Income Declaration Scheme  (VAIDS). In the internal arena, Nigeria has acceded to the Automatic Exchange of Information Agreement. These and many more activities have changed the narrative in the taxation system.

      On the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio

    We still need to do a lot to improve our tax to GDP ratio. We need attitudinal change. We need to imbibe the tax culture through a top-bottom approach. We have to synchronise and integrate all the four purposes of taxation and apply it in a holistic manner that will be beneficial to the society.

      Challenges of Tax Tribunal

    The major challenge for is how to sensitise stakeholders and disputants to patronise the Tribunal after almost two-and-half years of inactivity. You will recall that the TAT stopped sitting in June 2016 when the tenure of the last Panel of Commissioners expired. Although we were inaugurated on November 5, 2018, many of our individual and corporate compatriots are yet to be aware of the resumption of the sittings of the Tribunal.

    Way out of Tax tribunal challenges.

    The administrative arm of the TAT has initiated a publicity campaign to inform the members of the public of the new development adding, as we proceed on the job, we expect to see more challenges.

    Dependence on tax as major revenue source as against oil

    It is possible for tax to become a major source of revenue as against oil. Yes, tax alone has generated more revenue in some countries but it will be impracticable, in the short run, for such transmutation to occur instantly  in our clime. We have to work it out until we get to the equilibrium. Oil is a natural resource susceptible to the Dutch Disease.

    As a dwindling natural asset, it is not sustainable in the long run hence the necessity to device alternative and sustainable means of revenue generation. This is where taxation comes to the rescue. The level of production in the economy is, however, a veritable factor in the utilisation of taxation as a replacement strategy. Where the means of generating income is weak, tax compliance is usually a hard nut to crack.  Our country is a work in progress, and I think we are making progress.

    Challenges of implementing tax laws in the country

    Nigeria is a federation and that this status has implications with respect to taxation. We have a mixed bag on this matter. The Personal Income Tax Act, which applies throughout the country, is uniform but being implemented by separate states’ Boards of Internal Revenue. The existence of the JointTax Board, whose membership includes the 36 tax authorities of the States, is intended to introduce uniformity. The uniformity is nevertheless cosmetic.

    Fiscal federalism its effect out tax collection.

    Our quest for fiscal federalism makes uniformity unattractive. For instance, Lagos State may want to collect a particular tax type for which Zamfara State may not be interested in. To solve this problem, a legislation known as Taxes  and  Levies  (Approved list for collection) Act  (Amendment) Order, 2015 has provided states with 25 taxes and levies from where they can select the types and  number of taxes and levies they can charge within their states.

     

  • ‘ Constitution should be amended to emphasise revenue generation’

    ‘ Constitution should be amended to emphasise revenue generation’

    Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Bi-Courtney Chairman Dr. Wale Babalakin, in a paper yesterday at the annual public lecture of the Government College, Ibadan Old Boys’ Association, speaks on why the Constitution should be amended to place emphasis on wealth generation and collective wealth creation, among others.

    Our Constitution, that is the 1999 Constitution, apart from the obvious flaws that it  was not the product of a democratic engagement but a creation of the Military has many issues that require enhancement. I have heard a lot of cries that the system is too expensive. I believe that the cost of running it can be pruned down. However I disagree with the suggestion that we should scrap the bicameral legislature that is the existence of two Legislative Houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The membership of the House of Representatives is based on various parameters including population. The Senate is made up three members per State and one for the Federal Capital Territory. The membership of the Senate for each state is the same irrespective of the size of the State or its population. This is the concept of the equality of state within a Federation. This composition gives the smaller State a sense of belonging in the Federation. It offers them protection from the larger States. I do not see how the states with smaller population and size can feel comfortable if there was no Senate to counter balance the House of Representatives. Apart from this, I strongly believe that a simple legislature in a country with such diverse interests can on the spur of the moment take wrong decisions that may be difficult to reverse. The presence of another avenue to ventilate the position and aggregate ideas is likely to lead to a more sober legislation.

    It is my position that one of the weaknesses of the various states today is that the State Legislature have been taken over by the State Governors. As recently mentioned by President Obasanjo, State Governors have become emperors in their domain. The time has come when we need to have a second legislature in the states which is composed in a manner that places them beyond the control of the State Executive. And do not burden the states further financially. Most of the State Governments’ are spiraling out of order.

     

    Nigerian constitution and the distribution of largesse

     

    One aspect that seriously baffles me about the Nigerian Constitution is that although it is unusually detailed for a Federal Constitution, it appears to unduly place emphasis on sharing of revenue. From the beginning to the end of the Constitution, I did not see any reference to creating the revenue. We have to create the revenue before we can share the said revenue. We have inadvertently through improper constitutional making created a community where the emphasis is on how to share government largesse. This culture has led to the poverty of the whole nation. Please, do not be deceived, Nigeria is not a rich country. A country of about 170m people with a Federal budget of N7.4 trillion, out of which N2.5 trillion is a debt, is a struggling country. In this year’s budget, all Government earnings are to be spent on recurrent expenditure. All capital projects are to be funded by borrowing. This is how stretched the finance Sof Nigeria is today. Most of the State Governors believe that they are to fund the expenditure of their states largely from Federal allocation from Abuja. They have not been able to generate any substantial revenue. It is my thesis that this happened largely because of the structure of our Constitution which places a lot of emphasis on the distribution of largesse rather than the creation of collective wealth.   There is no provision in the constitution that makes it mandatory for the Government to save money for a rainy day.  According to the Constitution every amount of money accruing to the Government must be paid into the Federation Account from where its shared accordingly. Does this not explain today why Nigeria with a total of N170m people has a reserve of about N33b (thirty three billion dollars) and a Sovereign Wealth Fund of about $2 billion (two billion dollars) while Norway, another oil producing nation now  reserves  in excess of  N900 billion..

    We have to refocus our Constitution. I call on the members of the National Assembly who are currently seeking to amend the Constitution, to place emphasis on revenue generation and the creation of collective wealth. A situation where state governments can barely pay salaries is wrong. It is either the states bureaucracies are too large and inconsistent with the revenue profile of the states or the states are not doing well enough in the creation of wealth. More incongruous is that most states today spend their entire revenue derived from the Federation account received on salaries of the civil servants. In effect, they spend the commonwealth of the state on 2-3% of the population and leave the masses in the state who they have sworn to serve and protect in a bottomless abyss. This cannot be described as appropriate governance.

     

    The role of courts in a federal system of government

     

    he Constitution we have adopted places a lot of emphasis on the legal system. The judiciary plays a very pivotal role in the successful implementation of every Federal Constitution. There are endless battles for sphere of authority between the Federal and State Governments’ and also between the Government and individuals. It is very adversarial in operation.  Even the American Constitution which has now been in operation or over 200 years still has issues about Federal Government and State Government dichotomy. In the United States some of the landmark cases that have elaborated on this issue are:

    National League of Cities v Usery 426 vs. 883. 49 L Ed. 2d. 245 (1976)

    Garia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, 469 vs 83 L Ed. 2d. 1016 (1985).

    In Australia, the cases of:

    Huddart Paker and Company Proprietary v Moorehead (1908) 8 CLR 330).

    The Commonwealth and Anor v. Attorney General of Tasmania and Ors (The Franklin Dam case) 1983 5 7 ALJ. R. 450.

    Unlike the American Constitution where the power of the court to declare laws inconsistent with the constitution invalid was inferred by the Supreme Court of the United States of America in the case of Marbury v Madison. In Nigeria, the power is specifically provided for by the Constitution:

    S.4 (8) of the Constitution provides:

    “…. as otherwise provided by this constitution, the exercise of legislative powers by the National Assembly or by a House of Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of courts of law and of Judicial Tribunal Established by law and accordingly, the National Assembly or a State Assembly shall not enact any law that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or a judicial tribunal established by law”

    This is a specific jurisdiction that must be taken very seriously by the courts. This is designed to ensure that the Legislative and the Executive conform with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any Judicial officer that does not apply this provision properly would not be living up to his oath of office.

     

    How well have we fared in this area?

     

    ith the enormous powers, conferred on the Courts by this Jurisdiction, have we enabled the courts to perform this role? Have we created Judicial Institutions that is robust enough to undertake this phenomenal responsibility. It is my candid opinion that we have not been fair to the judicial arm of government. I will say that we started well but years of military intervention in the governance of Nigeria eroded significantly the status of the Judiciary.

    I would like to celebrate those who pioneered the judiciaries of Eastern, Northern and Western Nigeria. The three judiciaries were placed on a commendable footing through the effort of the members of the legal profession and the society at large I will highlight my point by using the Western Nigeria Judiciary as a case study. The legal society I knew growing up was very organized. Cases went on the dates they were scheduled for. There were hardly any adjournments then. Objections were raised and resolved immediately. There was no adjournment to consider any interlocutory issues. Judges were so knowledgeable and so versatile that lawyers knew that they could not play any delay tactics. Criminal cases were disposed of within a month of commencing the trial. The Assizes, which was the Special Criminal Court held for a specific period and loads of cases were disposed of during the period.

    An investigation was very thorough and the office of the Director of Public Protection was very active and versatile and would hardly proffer charges against an accused person without proper consideration of the merits of the case and the probability of securing a conviction. This was the legal society that I was born into. I was so fascinated by the Court that once I had the opportunity of obtaining information about how it was created, I seized it with both hands. In 1964, the salary of a High Court Judge in Western Nigeria was £3,400.00 (three thousand four hundred pounds) per annum. The salary of the governor of the CBN was £2,700.00 (two thousand seven hundred pounds) per annum. With this sort of comparatively high remuneration and reverence for judicial officers, it was very easy to attract the best minds to the Bench. It is sad that no judge today earns the salaries and allowances of a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The Ministry of Justice was also a very formidable institution. The Military intervention in the governance of Nigeria was an unmitigated disaster in the development of the Nigerian legal system and the Legal profession. Initially, the judiciary stood its ground against the Military’s onslaught and targeted erosion of its powers. The celebrated case of Lakanmi and Kikelomo v. AG Western State (Nigerian Supreme Court Case 1969 – 1970 6 NSCC. 143.) was the hallmark of judicial courage. The Courts had the confidence to hold that the Military Government could not exercise judicial powers. The Court held that the Forfeiture of Assets etc. Validation Decree violated the principles of separation of powers provided for under the 1963 Constitution. The Decree was an exercise of judicial power by the Executive and Legislative branches of government. By promulgating the Decree, the Federal Military Government was passing a legislative judgment. Such an exercise of judicial power was ultra vires the Federal Military Government under the 1963 Constitution. The Court courageously declared the Military Law invalid being inconsistent with the Constitution. The Military Government invalidated this decision by enacting the Federal Military Government (Supremacy and Enforcement of Powers) Decree 1970.

    “any decision, whether made before or after the commencement of this Decree, by any court of law in the exercise or purported exercise of any powers under the Constitution or any enactment or law of the Federation or of any State which has purported to declare or shall hereafter purport to declare the invalidity of any Decree or of any Edict (in so far as the provisions of the Edict are not inconsistent with the provisions of a Decree) or the incompetence of any of the governments in the Federation to make the same is or shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever as from the date of the making thereof.”

    The sin of this law is not the promulgation of this Decree, but the support it received from some members of the legal profession and the society at large. We tend to celebrate bad laws in Nigeria as long as it is favourable to our position at that time, not realizing that a bad law remains in the books until it is repealed or overturned and thus a dangerous weapon in the hands of a bed Government

    With the raw show of power by government after the promulgation of the Supremacy and Enforcement of Powers Decree, there was no end to the draconian use of decrees and edicts. One example that continues to shock me till date is the case of JH Bassey v Federal Government of Nigeria. Chief Bassey’s properties were confiscated by the government. We challenged the confiscation in Court. While the case was still  pending in Court, and while I was busy blowing grammar in Court on behalf of my then boss who had kindly allowed me to continue working on the case, the Federal Government promulgated The Assets (Title Vesting and Validation) (Mr. J. H. Bassey) Decree 1992. S3 (1) which provided that:

    “1. – (1) notwithstanding the provisions of the Land Use Act, the title to the assets clearly described in the Schedule to this Decree, is by virtue of this Decree and without further assurance vested in the Federal Military Government.

    (2) The title to the assets so vested by subsection of this section is hereby validated.

    1. The title of any claimant, real or purported, to the said assets referred to in section 1 of this Decree is hereby extinguished.
    2. – (1) No civil proceedings shall lie or be instituted in any court for or on account of, or in respect of any title vested in the Federal Military Government or validated by or under this Decree, or in respect of any act, matter or thing done or purported to be done by the Federal Military Government with regard to the assets which is the subject matter of this Decree or any act, matter or thing whatsoever done or purported to be done under or pursuant to this Decree by the Federal Military Government.

    (2) If any such proceedings referred to in subsection (1) of this section are instituted at any time before or after the commencement of this Decree, the proceedings shall abate, be discharged and made void and of no effect, and any right, interest or privilege, accruing, obtained, granted or purported to have accrued, have obtained or granted thereby is hereby extinguished.

    (3) Accordingly, any judgement or order of any court or tribunal delivered at any time on, before or after the commencement of this Decree shall by virtue of this Decree be made null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

    (3) For the purpose of this section, the question whether any provision of Chapter IV of the Constitution has been, is being or would be contravened by anything done, being done or proposed to be done in pursuance of the assets described in the Schedule to this Decree or in pursuance of this Decree shall not be inquired into in any court of law or tribunal, and accordingly, no provision of the Constitution shall apply in respect of any such question.”

    This was a rape on the Rule of Law and confirmed the depth of the collapse of our jurisprudence under the military interregnum.

    In order to create the sort of judiciary that is capable of discharging the enormous responsibilities placed on the Judiciary under the Constitution, the following actions should be taken:

     

    The way forward

     

    e must find a way of attracting the best mind into the Judiciary. The salary and allowances must be attractive enough to make a successful lawyer contemplate leaving the practice of law for judicial appointment as it was seen in 1955 and 1976. I had earlier mentioned what the salary of a High Court Judge of Western State was vis a vis the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria. It is instructive to note that a Judge of the High Court of England earns more money than the Prime Minister of England. This is the sort of high premium placed on members of the judiciary by a discerning legal system.

    The development of the law had always being anchored on the hierarchical system of courts.  The hierarchical system of courts had always being premised on the respect of the lower tier of the court system for the courts on the higher echelon.  This respect had been predicated on the intellectual superiority and comparatively higher practical experience of the members of higher court than the courts in the lower tier.  What does this mean?  It means that the high court Judges look up to the Court of Appeal for guidance and direction through their judgments.  Ultimately the Court of Appeal justices look up to the Supreme Court justices.  A pronouncement by the Supreme Court on any area of law is the final word on that area of the law. It is as expected to define the issues.  It is supposed to be a refined articulation of the law which resolves the issues and provide guidance for the entire legal system.  It cannot afford to be unintellectual.  The reasoning must be convincing.  It cannot leave loopholes.  Loopholes at the apex court create severe problems at the lower courts.  Amongst other things, it allows the lawyers to maneuver extensively. It may lead to conflicting judgments of the lower courts.

    We have to accord the right status to judicial officers. I grow up in the home of a judicial officer. I am always confused, if not perplexed when I try to make comparisons between the environment which I was brought up and the situation in the country today. I want to commend the National Judicial Council for all the effort so far in insisting that Judges are fairly treated and disciplined when necessary. However the National Judicial Council budget is dictated by the executives. It can only spend what is made available to it. I have listened to all Chief Justice of Nigeria since Honorable Justice Aloma Mukhtar GCON complained about the poor funding of the Judiciary. I have been told that some States are unable to pay the full allowance to judicial officers. This is totally unacceptable and unconstitutional S84 (7) of the 1999 Constitution provides that ‘ the recurrent expenditure of judicial offices in the Federation in addition to salaries and allowances of the judicial officers mentioned in subsection 4 of this section shall be  charge upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.@  We have to pay judicial officers appropriately and it is my submission that their salaries should be indexed link to inflation. In Nigeria today most people have lost 50% of the value of their earnings to inflation which implies that judges now earn less than half of their salaries in real value.

    The size of the High Courts in the various states is too large. I believe that most of the jurisdiction being exercised by High Court in the states can be handled as the magistracy. We need to enlarge the jurisdiction of the magistrate courts to take away some burden of the High Court so that the High Court can concentrate on issues that require great attention. We have to place serious emphasis on the hierarchy of courts.

    Appointment to the Bench must be based on merit. Law is essentially a profession that requires very serious intellectual capacity. The various levels of courts must look up to the courts higher than them in the hierarchy. The argument that it will offend Federal character is a non-starter. I have been to every part of Nigeria. Every corner of Nigeria has very outstanding people and they should be identified and appointed.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Maritime can replace oil in revenue generation’

    ‘Maritime can replace oil in revenue generation’

    Until the concession of the ports about 10 years ago, dockworkers’ restiveness was common. But all that has changed, giving way to a regime of productive engagement. Given the drop in spot market oil prices, the maritime segment can replace oil as an alternate revenue source, says Princess Vicky Haastrup, the Executive Vice-Chairman, ENL Consortium Limited and Chairman Seaport Terminal Operators of Nigeria in this interview with Group Business Editor SIMEON EBULU.

    It’s been 10 years since the port was concessioned.  How has it been?

    The experience in industry has been a good one, but of course it has lots of challenges. As you know, the ports in Nigeria have evolved a lot, pre-concession and post concession period. The industry was completely run down before we took over. We had lots of problems associated with operation; we had issues of labour, considering that globally, issues of dock workers are a serious issue. Even when NPA was in charge, it was practically tough to deal with dock workers.

    We took over when the sector was so volatile and you can imagine what it was to take over at that time. The enabling environment was not there, no equipment to work with, the roads were bad, and the environment was polluted. No development at the terminal and it was full of challenges we had to contend with. But we quickly realized that was why the government trusted us with their assets. What we are managing is the asset of government. Nigerian ports and terminals do not belong to us. It was leased out to us. It was concession. They know we can do this job.

    We know the responsibility placed on us is enormous: talking to labour, creating an enabling environment. Of course, Government also created an enabling environment for us. I can tell you we also created an enabling environment for ourselves.  The concession agreement is a tripartite agreement. We know the greatest responsility lies with the concessioners. We took up the challenge and its been ten years.

    There’s this notion that the maritime sector is largely in the hands of foreigners. How true is it?

    I think we need to take statistics to know who and who is running what. If you look at the Port terminal in Lagos, you will know. In Apapa, we have Dangote, we have ENL, a Nigerian company, the directors are Nigerians.  We have AP Molar that is a foreign company. We have Flour Mills. I look at Flour Mills as a Nigeria company because Nigerian shareholding in Flour Mill is huge. So, I see them as a Nigeria entity. I am not speaking for them, but it’s the truth. We also have Eko Support Services (ESS), that is a Nigerian.

    In Apapa, we have Ports & Cargo, a Nigerian firm. We have Five Star Logistics. We have TITC (Foreign); Joseph Damp, Nigeria. The Maggi, foreign. When you look at it, there is balancing here. This not the first time I am hearing that Nigerian ports’ in the hands of foreigners. If you go to Port Harcout, we have BUA and the likes that are Nigerian. If you look at that Nigerians are more than foreigners.

    As you’ve stated, there were challenges before you came and up till now the challenges are still there. What are you doing to tackle them?

    The major challenge was the dockworkers and the maritime union. They are key to  successful operations. In terminal operation, without dockworkers goods cannot be discharged from the vessels. So, we realised that a good relationship with both was key to successful operations. That’s why we created an enabling environment by engaging the leadership of the union and forming a partnership.

    When we came there was mistrust. The dockworkers felt we came to take their jobs. They thought we came to erode their sources of income.  This was  because there were lots of malpractices in the port sector. We had lots of officers that were attached to berths and even terminals. Every berth had an officer. You have president attached to the berth.  So, if they are not happy with anything, they can just stop the ship and say no more work.

    Those were the things on ground when government was running the show. But when we came in, we engaged the dockworkers.  So, they found that their lot is better with us than with government; their income is better. But it was a gradual process that resulted in building trust. Now, nobody stops the ship from working. With discussion we were able to overcome the challenges.

    It was alleged at a time that Nigerian ports are not competitive, vis a vis the neighbouring ones on the West Coast. Is Nigeria still losing businesses to them?

    I want to correct an impression – the high cost of operation in Nigerian ports is not caused by terminal operators. There are other charges that are being imposed on importers of goods, other than the charges of terminal operators. As far as I am concerned, those constitutes like 85 per cent. Terminal operators have their own charges which I call legitimate charges. We have invested, we have to discharge the ship, and we need to buy equipment to discharge the ship, we need to develop the port, we have welfare packages for the Dockworkers and other staff. We have to take care of the environment, we have security to handle, we have to keep the goods. We have lot of responsibilities.

    When you look at our own charges, we have other people in the port that impose charges. We have the shipping companies, the clearing agents, government agencies, logistics and transport, you have the Custom, NPA, SON fees, NAFDAC, and we have  lots more.

    Can they be eliminated?

    I believe some of them should be eliminated. We should run Nigerian ports the way other ports of the world are run. I don’t know what some of these government agencies are doing at the port. We need three or four basic government agencies. We need the Customs service, Immigration service, Port berth. I don’t think we need NDLEA because the scanner is there to scan the goods. So, why do we need NDLEA. So, why is Nigerian situation different from other ports of the world? These all add -up to the total cost.

    As chairman, what are you doing to stop this?

    We have engaged government over this at some point. I remember the former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had a meeting with the stakeholder’s based on the point that we emphasized and most importantly, on the multiplicity of government’s agencies in the port. We expressed our reservations to her. There and thene, a lot of the agencies were asked to leave the port.

    Is it true that some concessioners enjoy waivers or protection from the government thereby creating uneven competition?

    I don’t know of any concessioneer enjoying a special privilege. What privilege? Is it privilege that they don’t pay their lease fee, royalty to government! Everybody fulfills its obligations. This is the first time I am hearing this. The credit jetty owners do not belong to STOAN.  STOAN members are purely people involved in concession.

    What about the oil and gas cargo owners?

    I don’t know the meaning of oil and gas. When you talk of port operation terminology, you have only two types of cargoes – you have containerised cargo and general cargo, there was nothing like oil and gas cargo. General cargo is general cargo. I don’t know when the term oil and gas was coined out of general cargo.

    What is general cargo? It is any cargo that is not containerised.  It is called general cargo. It is a generic name. If it is not containerised, it is cargo. Under general cargo you have steel, you have all manner of cargo, you have even food items like rice, fish, chemicals, steel or just anything you call it. As long as it is not containerised, it is general. So, how oil and gas came into being, I do not know.

    I believe that there should not be any special concession given to anybody. There should not be monopoly. The country will suffer as a result of monopoly. The concessioner that is into general cargo has the same kind of concession- a contract. It is unfortunate when a cargo like pipe that they even use for construction for water is categorised as oil and gas.  There is a lot of ambiguity in its interpretation.

    At the end of the day,  government  has these terminals and you have given concession to people and you have what they call GMT- Guarantee Minimum Tonnage that they must achieve in a year. You have a minimum number of volumes of cargo that you must handle. They call it GMT. You tell me, ENL you must give me six million tonnes cargoes and you now tie my hand. How do you want me to achieve the GMT?

    And if I can’t achieve that because whatever I do, you still get a percentage of my income as your royalty. And If I don’t achieve that, you calculate a percentage of income loss that is paid to you. So, monopoly is bad. The shipping companies should have freedom to get products to any port of their choice. The government should get its hands off oil and gas. There should not be monopoly.

    People say the maritime sector can be an alternative source of revenue to the government if well harnessed. How true is this?

    I have said that over and over. And I told the immediate past President when he invited some stakeholders to a maritime retreat at the Villa a couple of years ago. I was one of the speakers. I said Mr. President I need to tell you the truth. I said the sector that has the potential to be an alternate to oil is the maritime and by extension, the port industry. He got the message and that struck him.

    Maritime is a huge revenue generator. NIMASA, Customs and NPA can testify to this. Now that the price of oil is at rock bottom level, it can replace oil as a source of revenue for the government and can create jobs We have thousands of clearing agents, we have shipping companies, etc; that’s job creation. This is a very wide and huge sector. It is a good alternative to oil if the right attitude is applied, if the right polices are put in place.

    How supportive are government’s policies?

    The policy of forex is commendable. If you look at the port terminal like ours, if you look at the number of ships we’ve handled from January to date, is actually a number of volume in a month. The reason is because the importers do not have access to forex in Nigeria. That inhibited them and for everyone, it was a major constraint. So, volume of importing dropped drastically. I have never seen that in my life.

    But the CBN formulated a new forex policy which I think is good. It is becoming flexible. Naira will find its true value and it’s good for business owners. The system we had before would not allow anybody to plan because the forex can change three times in a day. But further than that, government should please look at the whole 42 items that are banned. They said those products are not valid for forex. So, what people do is to go to the parallel market to source for it. That is not good for the business. It is not even good for local manufacturers.

    But the policy is for  products  that can be locally produced.

    But the question is, the locally produced goods, what’s the cost. Look at the automobile policy. If you look at the cost of those cars, they are very expensive. Those cars are sold for millions. What is the landing cost of these cars! For Nigeria to become an industrialised nation, the key word is power, infrastructure. Where are these? As far as there is no infrastructure in place to support manufacturers, they will be more expensive than the imported ones. And it will constitute pains for Nigerians. The conclusion is that those cars will still come to Nigeria through smuggling.

    How much policing can track that, considering the hundreds of illegal entries, risking the lives of our Customs?

    How has diversification contributed to exports?

    There are lots of exports going on in Nigerian ports. It’s just that most of the exports are going through containerised export and majorly are farm produce, like cashew, etc. We have a lot of export activities, such as commodities going to other countries. Let the focus of the government continue in the areas of encouraging local farmers. Nigeria used to be a major exporter of cocoa, palm oil etc. We need to go back to that. We have fertile ground here. Kenya exports cabbage to UK. Government should support local farmers to ensure that those farm produce are kept fresh to their destination.

    What is the state of infrastructure at the port?

    The infrastructure at the port is good. In those days the port holes at our terminal could swallow a truck, but we have addressed that. It was part of our developmental responsibility. It is contained in our agreement with them. But the access road to the port terminal is the responsibility of the government.

    There should be a plan  to divert roads to the ports away from the cities so that trucks do not pass through the cities to ease logistics. What is your take on this?

    Unfortunately, when the ports in Nigeria were developed, I do not think government envisaged this kind of explosion, like population. If you look at the port, the way it is situated, the ports in Nigeria are close to the cities unlike most ports across the world. If you look at other ports in the world, they are usually located away from the cities. Apapa is a city, but the port is situated in the middle of Apapa.  This same Apapa is also housing many tank farms. There are about 50 tank farms within Apapa and Tin can Island area. This is very dangerous. I haven’t seen that in any other place. But its rather too late.

    I used to suggest and pray there is no explosion, because if anyone explodes, it will affect the whole of Apapa. There wasn’t proper planning on the way the port was positioned.

    Back to your other question about creating a dedicated place for vehicles coming to load, both for inbound and outbound in the port, that would have been the best. China has one of the best port terminals in the world. I went to China, there is one container terminal, it is outside China. There’s this long bridge longer than our Third mainland bridge. It only leads to the port.  But I don’t think it is too late in Nigeria.

    Look at what Lagos is doing. I didn’t know that metroline could be possible. And its really working. If we are really serious, we can do it because the port will still explode further because our population will continue to grow. Government needs to create capacity whereby Nigerian port will be hotspots for all ports in West Africa.

    What does it take to be the Chairman of STOAN?

    To be the chairman of Seaport Terminal Operators of Nigeria (STOAN) is having the ability to lead. This is because STOAN members are trustees and captains of the port industry. We have some of us that are even referred to as captains of industry. We have the foreign terminal operators and managing directors who have served in various capacities at the global level before being deplored to Nigerian ports. I will call them timbers and calibers of the port industry. So it takes leadership ability and integrity to get along with all of them. It takes one whose opinion can be respected by other members and someone who has a sense of responsibility.

     

     

  • Lagos APC celebrates as Lagos hits oil

    Lagos APC celebrates as Lagos hits oil

    With joy unspeakable full of glories and thanksgiving, Lagos APC joins millions of Lagosians to celebrate the emergence of oil in the land of aquatic splendor, and limitless opportunities.

    In a release signed by State Publicity Secretary Mr. Joe Igbokwe the Party says the long wait to join the club of oil producers in Nigeria has become a reality today Monday May 16 2016 and this is official.

    “ At a time Nigeria is being held hostage, with multi billion worth of our oil and gas facilities being blown up left and right with reckless abandon, turning the whole country into total darkness and causing the country to lose 800,000 barrels of crude oil daily, it is good news to have Lagos, the land of civilization to join the club of oil producing States”

    ” in the fullness of time we know that the wise and civilized Lagosians will never behave primitively like the economic saboteurs from the Niger Delta who militarize their environment, destroy oil and gas installations,put Nigeria in total darkness, destroy their environment, pollute their lands and waters, hurt their 13% derivation,and  render their own people jobless”

    “ Lagos economy has been on the rise since 1999, competing effectively with many countries in Africa including Cameroun, Ghana, Senegal, Cote’de voire and with the advent of oil fields in Lagos, we have no doubt that it will grow far bigger than these countries in few years to come”

    “This monumental achievement in Lagos has left a huge lesson that God has not finished with Nigeria as oil or gold can be found in any part of Nigeria irrespective of tribe, tongue, culture or tradition”

    “ Coming at a time when Lagos has recorded even a surplus in Revenue generation in the first quarter of 2016 , Lagos APC believes that His Excellency Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will leave an indelible mark, the type never seen in the history of Lagos.”

  • Senate tasks NITT on revenue generation 

    Senate tasks NITT on revenue generation 

    As part of its oversight functions, Senate and House of Representatives Committee on ‎Land and Transport Thursday paid an inspection visit to The Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria ‎to ascertain the level of projects being constructed by the institution.

    ‎Speaking during the visit, Chairman Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Olugbega Ashafa, charged the institution ‎to imbibe modern management techniques as strategies in creating awareness on what they can do and how to generate revenue.

    “As it is now, the institute is something to be proud of, the management has done very well in maintaining a vibrant environmentally friendly atmosphere ‎for people to come in.

    “And we are expecting that they work more on the area of internally generated revenue ‎because they have so many equipments on ground and there are so many services they can render.

    “So they should imbibe m‎odern management techniques as strategies to ensure that awareness is created to Nigerians on what they can do.

    “Particularly in the area of attitudinal change towards driving so as to save lives and ensure that they meet the minimum standard of what is expected of a driver.”

    ‎”Having noted the importance of the institute to safety on Nigerian roads, the committee is dedicated to encouraging the institute to work harder in order to upgrade the institute to a university degree awarding status.

    ‎”Incidentally, this is the only educational institution fully focused on Transport Technology in the West Africa sub Region. Hence it should become an avenue for education tourism for Nigeria.”

    On his part, House Committee Chairman on Land Transport, Hon. Aminu Sani Isa‎, commended the management of the institution saying “I am impressed with what I saw here”.

    He however, assured that “on the whole, the committee is ready to work assiduously with the institution to ensure that Nigerian road users experience and imbibe attitudinal change in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration change agenda. ”

    Earlier in his address, Director General and Chief Executive of NITT, Alhaji Aminu Yusuf called for much closer working relationship between the Institute and the legislature to enable it achieve an effective and efficient transport system in the country.

    ‎The DG said the major challenge facing the institution include poor budgetary releases, poor patronage from agencies, saying “this has made planning and execution of our programmes difficult.

    He therefore, request ‎for the amendment of NITTs enabling Act, and need to domesticate the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the country.

    He however thanked the joint committee for their commitment to land transport development in the country.

  • Oyo Customs generates over 13 billion in 11 months 

    Oyo Customs generates over 13 billion in 11 months 

    The Nigeria Custom service, Oyo and Osun command Tuesday revealed it has generated over N13billion between the months of January and November, 2015.

    The command had also made over three hundred million Naira in the said months.

    Briefing the pressmen at the command headquarters in Ibadan, the custom area commander, Abdulsalam Hazzan said the command will continue to build on its achievements both on revenue generation and anti-smuggling combat adding that it is ready to confront all the challenges that militate against its success.

    According to him, despite the awareness and enlightenment campaigns under the platform of Customs Community Consultative Forum (CCCF), some unscrupulous smugglers continue to smuggle unacceptable goods.

    “The Oyo/Osun command has continued to reinvigorate and intensify efforts in the command’s anti-smuggling drive, Tuesday Monday 14th December, 2015 at 1am through intelligence gathering a combined team bombarded a forest along kishi-Igbeti axis where recalcitrant rice smugglers hid stack of foreign imported rice.

    “The bags of rice were brought into the command in five loaded truck. This seizure will send a serious warning signal that there is no hiding place or going back with duty payment on rice importation from the borders.

    “It is worthy of note to mention that the command generated a total of N144, 285,138.00 from 2156 metric tonnes (43,120) (50kg) bags of rice between October and November, 2015 when the restriction on duty collection from the borders was removed. This is a great achievement under the management of our new controller general of Customs Col. Hameed Ibrahim (rtd).

    “The Oyo/Osun command between the months of January and November, 2015 generated a total of Thirteen billion, Two hundred and One million, Nine hundred and Eighty-Seven thousand, Three hundred and Twenty naira, Seventy-seven kobo (N13, 201,987,322.77).

    “We officers and men of Oyo/Osun command are ready to confront all the challenges that militates against our successes and continue to build on the achievements so far made in both revenue generation and anti-smuggling.

    “It is troubling to observe that despite the sensitization and enlightenment campaigns under the platform of Customs Community Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd).”