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FG Pays States $5.4bn Paris Club Refund
A total of $5.4 billion has so far been paid to states by the Federal Government for settlement of the Paris Club Refund.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed confirmed the release at a news conference on the state of the economy yesterday in Abuja.
Present at the briefing were the Director-General, Debt Management Office, Mrs Patience Oniha, the Acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Mary Uduk and the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Alli (Rtd).
Others were the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Dutse; Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr Babatunde Fowler and other top officials in the ministry.
She said that the Paris Club Refund was released to states in phases based on some conditions, which included that salaries and staff related arrears must be paid as a priority.
Also, there must be commitment by all states to the commencement of the repayment of Budget Support Loans granted in 2016 and clearing of amounts due to the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.
Ahmed said that the Federal Government had also settled inherited debts despite the revenue shortfall experienced within the last three years.
The finance minister said aside the 5.4 billion dollars used to pay states over deductions made from the Paris Club debt, 6.8 billion dollars was used to settle Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.
She also said that contractors being owed N1.9 trillion under the Export Expansion Grants were on the verge of being settled.
In addition, she said that about N488 billion spent by state governments on road projects had also been paid.
Similarly, she said that as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to ensure all pensioners get their entitlements, the ministry had released N54 billion to settle outstanding pension arrears in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
She noted that the government had settled pension claims up to March 2017.
Ahmed announced that the federal government had agreed to pay about N571 million as gratuity to 175 retired police officers affected by the Biafra war.
In the area of expenditure performance, the finance minister said that in 2018, despite the revenue shortfall, the federal government had been able to pay salaries and fully service its debt obligations.
She said as at Dec. 21, 2019, the ministry had released overhead funding for seven months, while N995 billion had been released for capital projects.
She expressed optimism that the ministry would perform better during the rest of the budget year by driving up revenue generation to improve the fiscal space for spending.
To increase revenue, she said the federal government would be implementing more public financial management reforms.
“We will improve collaboration between our revenue collection agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service and other trade partners, to share information and intelligence that will help improve revenue and make collections more efficient.
“Under my tenure as the Finance Minister, I intend to continue championing such digitalization transformation initiatives that have proven to be a good way forward for our revenue generation drive,” she said.
When asked what are some of the taxes that would be affected by the planned increase in tax rate, the minister said that the government would from next year begin the implementation of taxes on luxury items.
She said: “We are exploring the way to increase taxes as well as reduce taxes in some sectors.
“For Small and Medium Enterprises, what will happen is to reduce taxes. But there are some special taxes that we will be looking at imposing.
“For example, luxury taxes. If you have a private jet, we will be taxing you especially for that. If you have a yacht, we will be charging you for that and also in terms of excise duties there are also some new areas where excise duties will be introduced.
“We haven’t got all the approvals but one of the major areas might be that of carbonated drinks produced in the country,” she said.
Ahmed also said that the government had also recorded an increase in the number of registered tax payers from 10 million in 2015 to about 19 million in 2018 under the Joint Tax Board.
On the whistle blower policy, Ahmed said that the Federal Government had recovered over N8.5 billion and 465 million dollars, among others, from 1,051 investigations conducted from tip offs received.
She also said that through the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, over N35 billion was recovered while significant increase was also recorded in the country’s tax base.
In the area of fiscal collaboration with state governments, the finance minister said that the federal government had provided budget support to states with a release of N1.9 trillion.
This, she noted, was to enable the state governments meet their salary and pension obligations, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues over the last two years.
Earlier, Fowler, who also spoke at the briefing, said that out of the 2,000 property of corporate entities identified early this year that were not paying taxes, 561 of them had come forward to make payments.
He said 116 companies claimed not to own any of these properties, adding that 30 of them had actually written to the FIRS that the property in question do not belong to them.
Fowler said based on the law, the property would be taken over by the government.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

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
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

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.