NEWS
FIRS Boss Nami, Emerges President, Commonwealth Tax Administrators
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),
Muhammad Nami, a renowned tax administrator has been elected by the 47
member countries of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators
(CATA) as its 15th President for a three-year tenure.
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications,
Joannes Oluwatobi Wojuola on Friday, said the newly elected CATA
President brings in decades of experience in taxation and
administration both in private and public sectors.
In his acceptance speech at the virtual conference Nami who thanked
the members for the confidence reposed in him by electing Nigeria as
President, said it is a call to duty, and promised to serve dutifully,
“shouldering the great responsibility that comes with the assignment”.
“Your support is an honour that I do not take lightly. “I want to
assure all members that I will work assiduously in delivering on the
mandate of this office; and I will not disappoint you. It is a great
privilege and I do not take it for granted”, he said.
Nami, who is the former Chairman of the African Tax Administration
Forum (ATAF) stated that due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,
taxation has become the mainstay for economies the world over in
providing the required revenue to fund governance.
“Today, taxation has become the mainstay of every economy around the
globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the earnings of most
economies, especially those whose revenue sources were fetched from
activities such as recreational tourism, medical tourism, minerals
exploration, commodity exportation etc.
“These activities were performed minimally, and in some cases even
experienced total cessation due to physical restrictions imposed by
many nations during the COVID-19 lockdown. Economies across the world
have had no other choice but to look inward to taxation as the most
viable alternative to provide the required revenue to fund
government”, he stated.
He went further to note that with the COVID-19 lockdown, digital
technologies have transformed the way and manner humans interact and
do business with each other, which has consequently brought about
novel challenges for tax administrators.
“This new normal brought about a greater embrace of digital
technologies that came with its own challenges for tax administrators.
One of these challenges is the inadequate capacity of tax
administrators to understand and track digitalised transactions which
has become the order of the day.”
The FIRS boss who served as Chairman of the African Tax Administration
Forum up to November 2020, and is currently the Chairman of the Joint
Tax Board in Nigeria, promised that as President of CATA he will
mobilise the member countries and other tax bodies to build capacity
of tax administrators to tackle the challenges they face.
“I will work with the CATA Secretariat to effectively collaborate with
other tax bodies such as ATAF, WATAF, UN, OECD, NTO, among others, in
the area of training and sharing of experience of good and innovative
practices in tax administration around the globe.
“One goal I hope to achieve as your President is to work hand-in-hand
with member countries to expand the character of tax administration
such that our work is in tune with today’s innovation and realities.”
CATA’s newly elected President stated.
The Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) was
established following a decision taken at a meeting of the
Commonwealth Finance Ministers held in Barbados in 1977. It had 23
founding member countries and has grown to 46 member countries today,
making it one of the world’s largest bodies of tax administrators.
CATA has, since its inception in 1978 focused on building and
improving capacity of its members. It hosts annual technical
conferences and high-level training programmes annually, while
maintaining strategic partnerships with various multilateral and
global tax institutions across the world. The Forum has played a
critical role in the formulation of tax policies and procedures of its
members.
With Nigeria’s out-of-school children figure still high at 18.3 million, an international charity has initiated fresh moves to tackle the syndrome.
The Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation (IAF), based in England, said it was determined to contribute significantly to tackling the crisis.
IAF had been campaigning for intensified efforts to tackle out-of-school syndrome in Nigeria, where UNICEF and UNESCO have reeled out huge figures of out-of-school children from year-to- year.
In a statement on Friday, the Founder of the foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, said the fresh initiative was to support the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government.
Adeagbo said the foundation was working on what she described as a “roadmap” to be unveiled by the foundation this month to tackle the problem and salvage early-child education in Nigeria.
According to her, the foundation has come out in full force to support the Federal Government to overcome the syndrome.
“With over 18 million children out-of-school, Nigeria’s education landscape faces an unprecedented crisis.
“The nation’s economic and social future depends on our collective commitment to quality education,’’ the British-born Nigerian, who resides in London, said.
She said Nigeria’s education system was grappling with challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and under-funding.
“The foundation is committed to driving actionable solutions at this point in time because we must secure a brighter future for our out-of-school children and Nigerian education in general.
“Education is the cornerstone of development and progress,” Adeagbo added.
Adeagbo disclosed that an international summit on education had been slated Nov. 26 to ignite discussions on how to over the challenge.
“We cannot afford to overlook the urgent needs of the education sector,” she said.
She said that the summit tagged: “Street to School: A Tech-Based Solution to Address Nigeria’s Education Crisis’’ would ignite critical discussions that would lead to substantial and measurable changes in Nigeria’s education landscape.
Adeagbo called on the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to education in line with UNESCO’s recommendation of 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total budget.
She also called for strengthening of partnerships with civil society groups to fund educational initiatives aimed at tackling various problems in the education sector, especially the out-of-school challenge.
Adeagbo said that Nigeria should implement initiatives targeted specifically at marginalised groups, including girls, children with disabilities and those from low-income families.
The IAF founder stressed the need for the government to utilise technology to boost learning opportunities, especially in remote communities and unserved areas.
Adeagbo added that Nigeria should give priority attention to training of teachers to equip them with skills to deliver quality education.
“We believe that Nigeria can establish a sustainable and inclusive educational framework that will leave no child behind,’’ she stated.
Report says that insecurity caused by terrorism, banditry and kidnapping plaguing Nigeria for years, contributed much to out-of-school syndrome in the country.
However, the Federal Government has been fighting to stamp out the negative activities to allow children to have unrestricted access to the classrooms. (NAN)
The Kaduna State Government plans to spend N93 billion over four years for the rehabilitation of the water sector in four tranches to address the neglect the sector has suffered over the past 10 years.
Ibrahim Hamza, the Commissioner for Public Works and Infrastructure, disclosed this during a press briefing on Friday in Kaduna.
Hamza said that Gov.
Uba Sani has directed the payment of all outstanding salaries and wages to the staff of the Kaduna State Water Corporation (KADSWAC), amounting to N800 million.He further disclosed that the staff of the corporation would be put back on the state’s payroll until 2027 when it must have fully stabilised to run as a commercial entity.
The commissioner recalled that the Governor had declared a state of emergency in the water sector three months ago.
Hamza said , ” This led to the appointment of Kabir Rufai as the substantive Managing Director of KADSWAC.
”The corporation will collaborate with the local governments to maintain generator operations.
”This will strengthen existing water laws to support corporate employment policy.”
He said that the state was investing heavily in the rehabilitation and retrofitting of all water treatment plants and distribution mains, with an emphasis on sanitation and hygiene
Hamza said, “The N93 billion will be invested in four installments, starting with N17 billion this year.
“N35 billion will be invested next year, N30 billion will be invested in 2026 and N11 billion will be invested in 2027.” (NAN)
By Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has called on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to fix the internal crisis in the party as the PDP is capable of fixing the country.Makinde, who spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the Board of Governors and Unveiling of Roadmap for the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), said that as the nation approaches 2027 for another general election, it was clear that the PDP has the capacity to provide direction for Nigerians.
The Oyo State Governor, who was the special guest at the occasion, asked rhetorically, “What would you want to be remembered for? This is a question every politician who has had to serve at any capacity in our great nation should ask themselves. Because players would come and go.”The situation is so dynamic, but you have to be remembered for something.”From 2019, I’ve been benefitting from PDP. So, I want to say thank you to our great party, and all the stakeholders gathered here today, for giving me the opportunity to get not one, but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.”The only thing I can promise you is that since I have fetched water from that well I have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well when it is time for me to exit that position.”The journey to this day has not been all smooth, but I’m thankful that we are able to overcome all the obstacles along the way.”On the PDI, Makinde said that with inauguration of the institute Board of Governors, the PDP is moving a step closer to defining the ideology that the party stands for, and cementing what the party as a whole will want to be remembered for.He said, “Let me especially thank all the people that are members of the party that has put aside grievances, and played a role in the re-establishment and revitalisation of the PDI” recalling that the institute was formed during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.”So, one will take a pause and say okay, what happened during the 16 years of PDI in power nationally? “You can see that with the PDI, there is a pivotal rule, and during those years, we can rightly refer to as the golden years, because since we are working through the plan, we got debt forgiveness, we were interacting with everybody around the world, we were not in pariah relations,” he said.He called on members to rally round the party and set aside their differences, saying there was need for true reconciliation and unity to wrestle power from the APC in Ondo State, whose governorship election has been slated for November 16, 2024.In his contribution, former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, noted that parties are built on ideas, philosophies and policies, stressing the need to move away from building ideas on self and ambition.Sakari said: “We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party. We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is the foundation that is important. “Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, or who is running for governor, or who is running for president in 2027. Let us talk about what PDP is. What does PDP represent? What are the issues and policies that we must take into account?”This is what is important for us. This is what Nigerians outside want to know. This is what is important.”Earlier the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Amb Umar Damagum ,who was represented by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Hon. Umar Bature, said there needed to reposition and unite the party to play its opposition role.
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