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FCT- IRS Partners CITN On Taxpayer Enlightenment Campaign In Abuja

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

…To Enforce Rental Income Tax, Other Streams

The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) collaborated with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) on a taxpayer education/enlightenment program to keep residents informed about current tax trends in Abuja.

The goal of the campaign was to improve public awareness of taxation and recent changes in tax administration, as well as to properly communicate the FCT-IRS tax processes and focus to FCT residents.

In his welcome address, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi, Acting Executive Chairman, FCT-IRS, said that as a new tax body, the Service is always open to greater collaboration with stakeholders from the Federal Inland Revenue Service CITN, as well as other critical tax professionals and practitioners, in order to broaden the campaign.

Abdullahi said the programme will be rewarding, and FCT and indeed Nigeria would be better for it, given the calibre of the resource persons that handed critical issues, that would contribute positively to the development of taxation system.

He added that in terms of tax operations and compliance, its focus has been on the personal income aspects of the employee under Pays-As-You-Earn (PAYE) scheme at about 75%, self-employed under direct assessment 10% and others 15% respectively.

His words, in order to surpass its revenue target of 202 billion Naira for the year 2022, the Service is re-strategizing and refocusing on three streams of tax- namely tax on rental income, capital gains tax, and business premises registration fee before the end of the year.

He, however, reiterated that resolve of the Service to sustain aggressive public enlightenment and sensitisation campaign to mobilise prospective taxpayers, with a view to boosting the revenue base of the FCT Administration.

In his keynote address, CITN 15th President, Chief Adesina Adebayo, who was represented by Samuel Agbeluyi, CITN’s Vice President, said the programme is highly commendable, as it’s tended to provide enlightenment on taxation of partnership business in Nigeria and recent changes in tax legislation.

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman,
Senate Committee on FCT
Senator Tolu Odebiyi, hinted that the FCT-IRS as one of the key revenue generators for the FCT have done well, especially in putting together needed institutional frameworks.

He described the event as apt, as it will enable the Service to further set up structures required to widen its revenue base and efficiency in the system

He, therefore, assured that the Senate is doing anything possible to work with the FCT-IRS to not only widens its revenue base, but ensure efficiency and accountability in the system.

Similarly, Member, House Committee on FCT, and Deputy Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo, said it was a very laudable and deliberate collaborative effort towards improving the tax system in the FCT .

According to him, “Taxes area at the core of the relationship between the govt and citizens as a civic duty, which enables the provision of critical infrastructure and services to the citizens

“We stand ready and committed to amending or enacting laws to enhance a robust tax system in the FCT”, he stressed.

WHO Approves NAFDAC As Maturity Level Three (3) Regulatory Agencies

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

…Can Now Produce Vaccine

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been recognised as a maturity three regulatory agency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nigeria is the third African country to achieve this rank, and one of the few in the world.

The NAFDAC Director General, Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday. With this, we will be able to manufacture our own vaccines, and the process has already begun with the construction of a vaccine laboratory in Oshodi, Lagos.

She stated that none of this would have been possible without President Muhammadu Buhari’s outstanding support, who generously donated 736 million to equip our laboratories.

Her words,” When I came on board, 70 to 80 per cent of our laboratories equipment were not working and President Buhari intervened and gave us seven hundred and thirty six million (736 million) to equip our laboratories.

” President Buhari also gave us four billion to buy more equipments and build vaccine laboratory which is almost completed. it is the tools that earn us this, and I thanks president Muhammadu Buhari for his kind gestures.

“We are already working on Maturity Level four which will enable any products we approved as a regulatory agency to be traded globally.
Since we don’t produce, the pharmacistical companies that produce will have a larger market

” There is no fear on our side getting certification for maturity four because we have our template and we have have been recertified by WHO since 2019, once we get recertified by November this year, we start self auditing, which is going to keep us on our toes. This has to be sustained because they will be coming every three years”, she said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman , NAFDAC Governing Board, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman said this feat cannot be possible without the support of the government and the hard work of the DG and staff of NAFDAC.

According to him, “The certification to Maturity level 3 by WHO is an indication that NAFDAC is well functioning and global agency.

“We gave ourself target, to cross the last huddle , I made a commitment that the DG see us through maturity level four , once we get to this level, everything we approved will get global acceptability”, he hinted.

Abuja-Kaduna Attack: Amaechi Visits Blast Scene, Decries Delay in Approving Security Apparatus

By
Ekaette Ibuot
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0

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The Minister of Transportation, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi has decried the continuous delay of procurement process in acquiring the necessary security apparatus that would ensure adequate security within the railway lines across the country.
The Minister bore his mind, during an inspection tour to the scene of the Monday night terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.
Amaechi who was obviously devastated over the sad incident said that his ministry has taken the necessary measures to make train services across the country a safe heaven, but lamented that the procurement process that will lead to the purchase of security equipment is taking so long.
He added that the cameras in the train is not capable of picking what is outside the train. He said the security gadget needed, is the type that can detect security bridge 100 meters away.

The Minister confirmed that eight persons lost their lives, while twenty five who sustained various degree of injuries during the attack were in the hospitals receiving treatment.

The Minister admitted that proper account on the figures of missing persons, kidnapped and those injured could not be ascertain at the moment, as
some of the victims who are either staff of NRC or cleaning agencies, were not captured on the manifest.
He said the total number of passengers on the train were three Hundred and ninety eight.

“We have not been able to install the security sensors because the procurement process is a bit difficult.
To shorten the process and save lives like this but because the process is tedious, the approval is also tedious, we have not been able to get that approval that will lead to purchase those items.
If those items were here, drones alone will tell you that there are people around the rail tracks because there are drones, there are equipment pick sensors if you touch the track but unfortunately the process has not been able to get us that approval for us to import those items”.

“The cameras in the train cannot pick what is happening outside. What you need is a camera that shows 100 metres away from the train, there are unknown things carrying gun. Then, we can take precaution but we have done all we need to do in the ministry of transport and we have forward to them for approval but we have not gotten approval.

The patrol vehicles are available but they cannot reach everywhere. For the areas the patrol can patrol, it will forestall.
We are thinking about the possibility of employing natives until we get those equipment. We also need helicopters, beyond the drones, we need helicopters”, he said.

“What we need is technology that will lets you know that there are human activities or foreign activities on the track, that way, you can secure the locomotive and secure lives and i had warned earlier that it is important they get us this approval because human lives would be involved. Since that warning till today, we have had two incidences”.

“Even if they get us approval, it will take some months to acquire them from overseas to install them. We need to do that to enable us see from Kaduna-Abuja, Itakpe-Warri and from Lagos-Ibadan what is going on so that we don’t continue to lose lives because lives are important. If we don’t do that, more persons will die. The cost was about N3billion and the damage here is more than N3billion. So, if we had gotten the approval, we would have saved the N3billion and saved lives”, he added.

The Minister was in company of the Minister of State Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari, MD Railway Engr. Fidet Okhiria and Chairman NRC Engr. Ibrahim Alhassan.

Terrorists Launch Attack on Abuja-Kaduna Train

By
Ekaette Ibuot
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0

On Monday, a Kaduna-bound train was attacked by unidentified gunmen, forcing the locomotive to stop and over 900 passengers on board to be apprehended.

According to reports, the suspected terrorists detonated an explosive device on the railtrack between the stations of Katari and Rijana.

According to one of the passengers who confirmed the incident to a national daily, the attackers also surrounded the train and shot sporadically after it was demobilized.

The attack on Monday comes less than two weeks after residents of communities along the corridor met with railway operators, not to mention the federal government’s deployment of six surveillance vehicles along the same corridor.

The managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Fidet Okhiria has confirmed the incident to a television but says he is still gathering details on the incident.

APC Convention: We Were Beaten, Our Phones Stolen Says Foreign Delegates

By
Ola Akinola
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0

Some foreign delegates have expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment they have received at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention, which is currently taking place at Eagles Square in Abuja.

A foreign delegate from Canada stated in a video circulated by correspondent that they arrived at the convention venue as early as 7 a.m. but were denied admission until 1 p.m.

He claimed that they were asked to wait in line but were beaten, and that some of them had their phones stolen.

“They sent us e-mail that we should come by 7’o clock in the morning. We were there at 7am. Later, they sent another e-mail that we should come at 9am. They gave us a tag, took us on a bus. We went round all this place for almost one hour. They couldn’t let us in”.

“They finally told us to form a line. We got on the line. They started beating us, stealing our phones. As I am talking to you, we are still standing outside. Just look at what they are doing to foreign delegates. This is very unacceptable and the government has to know this.

Saying, I came all the way from Canada and this is what we are getting”.

Jonathan Strategizes Defection, Recruits Loyal Kinsmen for APC Presidential Ticket

By
Roland Edet
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Former President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to shock Nigerians by defecting from the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and then running on the party’s sole ticket as a consensus candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

As a result, the former President has begun to rally his kin in Bayelsa State’s Ogbia Local Government Area in order to make this dream a reality.

Part of this strategy was to persuade some of his relatives and political associates to support his ambitions in the PDP in the upcoming general election.

Jonathan was said to have carried out an audit of all aspirants in his council and decided to support persons he believed would easily defect with him to the APC at the appropriate time.

Sources close to the former President said he was preparing his kinsmen for his new ambition having been promised a return to Aso Rock by a cabal at the Presidency working for a northern agenda.

“Jonathan is working for his new ambition to return to Aso Rock as a President in 2023. He is using his position in Ogbia to call the shots of who will get the PDP’s electoral tickets for various positions in Ogbia. 

“His intention is to select people, who will easily and willingly defect with him to the APC at the appropriate time. So, he is working against loyal PDP members, who are determined to win and remain in the party.

“But Governor Douye Diri is playing into his hands. If Diri allows Jonathan to have his way, he will be the greatest loser because he will be alone to fight for his second term”, the source, who craved anonymity said.

The source said that Jonathan had settled for Prof. Edmund Allison-Oguru as his choice to fly the flag of PDP for the Ogbia Federal Constituency seat in the National Assembly. 

He bypassed aspirants, who initially indicated interest for the Constituency’s ticket only to ask Oguru, who was not even in the picture to go and pick the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the primary of the PDP schedule for May.

To keep his ambition alive, Jonathan was said to have settled for Allison-Oguru ahead of the current occupant of the position, Fred Obua; Local Government Chairman, Ebinyo Turner; a member of the House of Assembly, Chief Mietema Obodor and a former Commissioner, Daniel Iworiso-Markson.

Another close source said Jonathan believed he could only entrust his ambition on Allison-Oguru because of his long-standing relationship with him.

“This is the reason he is not even considering Iworiso-Markson. He believes that Iworiso-Markson will never defect with him to the APC. He knows that Iworiso-Markson will remain in PDP and that will be a big let down for him.

“The former President has been thinking of the direction to take until recently when he was convinced by some stakeholders to choose Prof. Edmund Allison-Oguru. If you recall, it was Jonathan who nominated him as Secretary to the State Government in the first tenure of Senator Seriake Dickson’s administration. 

“He also recently nominated him to be among the members of the governing board of the University of Africa, Toru-Orua in Sagbama. So it is him that he has chosen”.

Some of the stakeholders were concerned that if the PDP picked Allison-Oguru as its candidate, the party would lose the main election because of his unpopularity.

“We will lose to any party if Allison-Oguru is our candidate. It is a huge joke for the former President to be insisting that we endorse him as our candidate. I mean this is why people like me are against it. Jonathan is blindfolded by his ambition. The earlier the governor knows this the better for him and for the PDP.

“The man is not popular and we shouldn’t make that kind of huge mistake. This is an election and not comedy. We need our very best and those on parade are worth winning electi

APC Convention; Police Teargas, Lock Out Delegates, Electoral Committee Staff, Journalists

By
Ola Akinola
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0

Political thugs loyal to various politicians, as well as hoodlums of all shapes and sizes, have beseeched and taken over the non-security entrance leading to the premises at Eagle Square, the venue of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention in Abuja.

Our correspondent on the ground reports that the main entrance has been closed to non-VIPs, forcing some non-statutory delegates and accredited journalists, as well as staff of the APC convention Electoral Committee, to use the inner gate through the Federal Secretariat’s car park.

However, political thugs who obviously experienced the same diversion and directive to use the inner gate have made it difficult for validly accredited individuals to gain access as they throng the place in their numbers overwhelming security guards at the entrance.

Following the chaos which almost brought down the metal barriers, many of them including some tag-weilding delegates and journalists managed to gain entry amid stampede.

It took some reinforcement from by-standing security operatives to regain control of the situation.

Having brought the chaos under control, the visibly angry police operatives charged at the waiting crowd with heavy bombardment of teargas just to disperse them.

The highly fouled air led to another round of stampede as the remaining thugs, banners-wielding supporters, delegates, as well as journalists took to their heels in search of a cover from the teargas.

Even staff of the Convention Organising committee were locked out and teargassed despite spotting T-shirts with ‘APC Electoral Committee’ boldly inscribed on them.

Whether the operatives will be able to institute order in the movement of people in and out of the convention venue still remains to be seen.

As at the time of filing this report, the statutory delegates made up of the President, his Vice, Governors and their Deputies, as well as Federal and State Legislators are yet to arrive the venue.

Sources confirmed to this newspaper that series of meetings have been going on, with movements of party heavyweights from the Party Secretariat in Wuse 2 to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in an attempt to forge a common front before hitting the convention ground.

Recall that the President had given the governors and other critical stakeholders an opportunity to come up with a “Unity List’ with a view to having consensus candidates through affirmation at the convention and avoid the rigours of election, as well as its attendant post election litigations.

As at early this morning, the Governors were said to be sharply divided regarding the President’s suggestion, insisting that aspirants should be allowed to test their popularity with the delegates.

Whether the President will be able to prevail in this game of interests is a matter of time as the day progresses.

Albino Foundation Affirms Govt. Assistance on Members’ Skin Cancer Treatment

By
Ekaette Ibuot
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0

The Albino Foundation (TAF) has affirmed the assistance it has gotten from the Federal Government
in the treatment of Persons With Albinism (PWAs) infected with skin cancer.
The Founder of TAF and President of Albinism Association of Nigeria (AAFN), Mr Jake Epelle gave the affirmation in Abuja at a press conference.

He expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for being responsible for the treatment of the skin cancer, and added that many members of the foundation had benefitted.

He said that “in Africa, only Nigeria has free skin cancer treatment scheme. We will like to again register our gratitude to
government for recommending PWAs who were in need of treatment.”
Epelle said that the foundation had attracted free cancer treatment to members with government’s direct sponsorship, in line with its advocacy activities.
He further stated that TAF had mobilised for the treatment of PWAs within and outside the country worth millions of dollars.
He said that even though he had no accurate number of persons so far treated or referred to hospitals as a result of loss of some
documents in course of movements from one office to another, “this is verifiable by the beneficiaries”.
Epelle described as fallacious the claim that government had not in any way sponsored the treatment of PWAs for skin cancer.
He, however, added that there was discontinuation of treatment as a result of high cost of drugs.
He commended the Ekiti Government “for showing care and concern in the affairs and health condition of PWAs.”
Also, the Assistant Coordinator of the foundation in Enugu, Ms Nonye Ogbuagu also affirmed government’s involvement in the treatment of PWAs with skin cancer.
She said that the foundation had referred many persons to the National Hospital, Abuja, for skin cancer treatment under
the auspices of government.
Bassey Mbah, the Coordinator of the group in Cross River, emphasised the imperatives of early and timely treatment of skin cancer
in PWAs to avoid high mortality rate.
Mbah urged TAF members to use the opportunity offered to treat skin cancer by visiting facilities on time.

Nigeria Needs To Reimagine Education Sector To Ensure Learning For All Children

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

Vice President,Prof Yemi Osinbajo has hinted that , Nigeria must change and reimagine the education sector in order to ensure learning for all children.

Osinbajo gave the hint during the official launch of the Nigerian Learning Passport (NLP) on Thursday in Abuja, which was organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Vice President, who was represented at the event by the Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, stated that while there has been significant progress in the sector, access to education remains a major challenge.

According to him: “Over the last decade, Nigeria has made great strides in improving access to education. In the last five years, pre-primary school participation has increased from 45% to 61%, primary enrollment has increased by 5 million. The rate of out of school children has decreased by 10% from 42% to 32%.

“These are phenomenal achievements but access to school does not equate learning. Nigeria is facing a learning crisis. Millions of children and young people are not developing even the basic skills they need to break out of poverty due to the disruption to schooling and learning by incessant security, COVID-19 as well as more recent attacks.

“To ensure continuity of learning for all children and the resilience of education systems to future shocks, we must change and reimagine the education sector.

“Deploying innovations that rethink the current methodologies, including new approaches to delivering education in ways that defy the digital divide, and ensuring learning continuity in emergencies, has become imperative.

“This launch set the foundation for creating a system of education where digital technology will be used to transform the way that learning is provided and meet the need of every child. The NLP is an effective tool to ensure the continuity of learning through access to curriculum,” he said.

Earlier, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Mr Peter Hawkins, said the platform can be quickly deployed, customised and scaled-up nationally, including in low connectivity areas.

He said that the digital platform will address the over 89 per cent of learners who do not have access to computers in the home and over 82 per cent of learners who do not have access to the internet in Nigeria.

According to him, “It is also an effective tool to accelerate national reforms to make quality learning opportunities available to more children, anytime, anywhere. Before COVID-19, access to quality education was already profoundly unequal, we know that in Nigeria, 28 million children are in school and NOT learning at the appropriate levels.

“Sadly, learning is not always equipping our young people with the sits needed to excel in today’s world if we are to realize the ambition of SDG4, then we need to reimagine education, and the deployment of innovations like the Learning Passport will help to bring us there.

“With 65.6 million people aged 10-24, Nigeria has one of the largest young populations in the world representing an extraordinary opportunity for development and growth,” he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said the platform will be an effective tool for learning in the country.

Traffic Jams: FCTA Resumes Crackdown On Illegal Roadside Parking Lots

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

… Impounds Over 50 Vehicles

Following growing concern about the city’s increasing traffic gridlock caused by the proliferation of illegal motor parks, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) launched a massive crackdown on operators of such parks on Thursday.

Over 50 vehicles were impounded by the Task Force while combing through the illegal parks in Garki Areas 1, 8, and 10, as well as Apo Bridge.

Dr. Abdulateef Bello, Director of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), stated that the impounded vehicles violated several traffic rules in addition to being parked in various unapproved parks, including improper registration.

He stated that the exercise would become a routine duty of the team in order to ensure sustainability while  the administration had put measures to close all the illegal parks.

According to him, the rickety vehicles will be put off the road, and owners of the impounded vehicles would be made to comply with all requirements of the law,  before they could get them back.

Bello while pledging to sustain the exercise,  also assured that officers who were injured by hoodlums in previous  operations would be adequately compensated.

Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah stated that FCT Minister , Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has resolved to deal with all sectoral infractions, while adding that the Task Force will not stop its operations, until sanity is restore completely. 

Attah who has been heading the operations for City Cleaning,  noted that addressing the traffic issues deserved a special attention from the team, because FCT  residents deserve  a relief  from stress. 

He hinted that addressing troubling traffic issues within the city centre, was something the FCT Minister,  Malam Muhammad Bello craves for dearly and has made commitment to achieve. 

According to Attah, ” What we are seeing today is the enormity of the complexity of the challenges. We have been doing work on all departments,  today we are focusing on traffic issues.

” It is getting more complex, but we are not been deterred at all. We must not allow this city to degenerate to a point where we cannot do what is right . Today many vehicles and motorcycles have been impounded”.

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