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Nigeria, A Non-Oil Country – Minister …FG Expands Tax Revenue Base
Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Nigerians view the country as a non- oil producing nation, and declared that efforts are on to explore other sources of revenue. The minister said in a radio programme, Political platform, on Ray Power FM yesterday, said oil accounts for only 14 percent of the country’s natural resources.
She also said that the Federal Government hinted that Nigeria has the capacity to generate over N10 billion in revenue from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 2018 if half of Nigerians using kerosene for their domestic needs switch over to gas.
The Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Sulieman, who made this known yesterday in Abuja at the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on Kerosene to gas initiative in Nigeria: The Indonesian Model, said “If 50% of the current kerosene users in Nigeria switch over to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Nigeria will generate about US$10.38b by 2018.”
Addressing newsmen moments after laying the 2015 budget proposals before the House of Representatives yesterday, the minister said the country was working to also broaden the tax base, even as revenue leakages were being blocked.
She explained that the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) budget for next year is about N102 billion, adding that “SURE-P was facilitating an excellent job of making sure that critical infrastructure is finished and the country’s social safety net is kept to protect the vulnerable.
She explained that the 2015 budget was based on a few key indicators on $65 per barrel benchmark, adding “we are going to stick to it for now despite the declining prices because we feel the average price next year [should be] around $65-70. The production level is 2.27 million barrels per day. We have revised the growth rate based on the new parameters of the country, down from 6.35 to 5.5 per cent next year. But that is still one of the fastest growth rates we are experiencing in the world today.”
The situation in the manufacturing sector which assumed ascendancy in the last six-weeks, has been traced, amongst other factors, to the continuous fall in oil prices in the international market, and the slide in the foreign exchange rate of the naira, when compared against the dollar and other hard currencies.
Fear is being expressed by stakeholders in the Organised Private Sector (OPS), some of whom said it is a matter of time before the unfolding development snowballs into a major economic crisis, if no urgent steps are taken to stem the tide.
Besides the falling oil prices on which the nation relies for over 85 per cent of its federally collectable revenue, the devaluation of the naira and the non-inclusion of raw material inputs in sourcing foreign exchange from the bi-weekly Royal Dutch Auction System (RDAS), according to a source in one key player in the OPS, have grave implications for those in manufacturing, who depend on essential inputs from overseas.
The official said what is playing out now is reminiscent of the events of 1986 when the naira was devalued by the then military government, which resulted in the steep rise in prices and caused collateral damage to manufacturers of consumer products, the effects of which the nation has not recovered from.
He said what is happening currently will lead to the lowering of the purchasing power of the local currency, increase in cost of inputs, pointing out that the resultant effect would be that goods emanating from Nigeria will command higher prices, as against imported ones. This, he added, “will sound a death knell to the indigenous manufacturers, or whatever is left of that sector .”
While acknowledging the fact that the unfolding scenario was unanticipated, the official, nevertheless called for a shock therapy, saying the response to the challenge, especially by manufacturers and other segments of the OPS, might result in production cuts and price adjustments, with its attendant consequences. He said one of the most painful unintended outcomes of the measures manufacturers might adopt to keep afloat, would be to lay off some of their workers.
“This will be at variance with government’s often trumpeted agenda, which is that of creating jobs,” he said.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.