Quadri said in Lagos that CITN had written to the stakeholders to furnish the institute with information on their tax consultants.

“The institute has not received a single report from the stakeholders on the activities of the tax consultants.

“We collaborated with them to enable us to stamp out unprofessional practitioners in the system.

“ They are expected to regularly inform the institute about consultants submitting reports to them,” he said.

Quadri said that the institute had also adopted the use of professional seal and Stamp that would accompany any document submitted to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

“If the seal and stamp are not there, it means the person is not qualified to practise as a tax professional,’’ he said.

Quadri, who is the immediate past President of the West African Union of Tax Institute, said that tax administration was guided by law.

He said that every eligible tax professional was expected to be a member of CITN with a licence.

Quadri urged the stakeholders to cooperate with the institute to effectively induce professionalism in the taxation sub-sector.

The president made the pledge when he received members of the board and management of NEITI, led by the Chairman, Ledum Mitee, at the State House, Abuja.

Jonathan gave the assurance that inadequate funding and gaps between NEITI and certain major government bodies would be addressed soon.

He said the setting up of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) would also see to the proper integration of NEITI into the economic agenda of government.

The president commended the performance of NEITI since 2003, the bringing of international honour to the country.

Nigeria was recently adjudged the best Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) implementing country in the world and given an award at the global EITI conference in Sydney, Australia.

The president also expressed delight at the detection of some potential revenue-losing sectors of the economy by NEITI and its recommendations on how to tackle oil theft.

“NEITI is not just a watchdog organisation but one playing a critical role in the economy. Other countries will soon want to learn from the exemplary performance of NEITI,’’ he added.

Earlier, Mitee called on the president to address the ugly trend of oil theft.

“NEITI is concerned about the ugly trend in our oil and gas sector in view of it huge negative economic implications and massive revenue losses.

“The absence of reliable baseline information and data on the actual quantity of crude either lost through theft, bunkering or pipeline vandalism remain a major challenge.

“NEITI calls for urgent Presidential intervention in the issue of proper metering regime which has always been a recurring recommendation of our audits,’’ he said.

Mitee said the Federal Government lost about 9.8 billion dollars (about N1.5 trillion) to extractive industries in six years.

He said the revenue loss was from under-assessments and under-payment of taxes, rents, process manipulation and poor interpretation of agreements between government and extractive companies.

Mitee disclosed that about two billion dollars had been recovered from the revenue loss through collaboration with relevant agencies working under the aegis of the inter-Ministerial Task Team.

“Our reports indicate that some 9.8 billion dollars could be recovered from companies into the federation account.

“There is the need to set up inter-ministerial task team to drive that process.

“The Federal Inland Revenue Service has been able to recover about two billion dollars,’’ he said.

The chairman solicited the president’s intervention in the slash of the agency’s budgetary allocation by 50 per cent.

According to him, the dwindling revenue accruing to NEITI was crippling the activities of the agency.

“NEITI’s budgetary provisions have continued to dwindle whilst its activities remain on steady expansion.

“The situation has worsened to the extent that it threatens the agency’s continued performance of its core function.

“By the current funding profile, it will be impossible for NEITI to even support some of its statutory audits for the current year if nothing is done to ameliorate the situation,” he said.

Mitee commended Jonathan’s Administration for the commitment to massive reform in the oil and gas sector.

Dikko said this in Abuja while receiving an Award of Excellence from the Bulgaria Alumni Association.

“What my administration has done in the customs service, regarding welfare and capacity building, is my greatest pride and achievement as a comptroller-general.

“It gladdens my heart to know that my officers are getting the training that would help them in carrying out their mandate,” he said.

Dikko dedicated the award to the officers and men of the Nigerian Customs, and advised Nigerians to take border security management as the business of not only to customs but all of us as stakeholders.

He said he learnt hard-work, perseverance and good work ethics from Bulgaria when he was a student, adding, “till today, I continue to exhibit it.”

It would be  recalled that Dikko obtained both Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the University of Dimitrov Apostle Tshenov, Bulgaria.

Dikko called on Nigerian professionals in the Diaspora to come home to help in building the country, saying, “ together we can take Nigeria to higher heights”.

Earlier, Chairperson, House Committee on Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, urged Nigerians in foreign lands to form alumnus.

According to her, it is important that those who return to the country will have a place where they can talk about their sojourn and experiences.

Dabiri-Erewa stressed the need for more professionals to return to the country.

“Nigeria has contributed to the development of so many other countries; 70 per cent of the black doctors in America are Nigerians, yet we have poor medical services in the country.

“Nigerians need to come back home and help fix this country. This country has to change, and it is our duty as Nigerians to do so,” she said.

The occasion was attended by Bulgarian Ambassador, Mr Miroslav Komarov and Minster of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki and other important dignitaries.

The two blocks OML 83 and OML 85 hold an estimated 200 million barrels of oil and an unknown amount of natural gas but there has been no production yet, two industry sources said Chevron did not give details of reserves.

“As part of a continuous process of portfolio evaluation and business prioritisation, Chevron Nigeria Limited … has put forward its interests in two oil mining leases for auction,” a company spokesman said.

“The assets are located in the shallow waters.”

Chevron owns a 40 percent stake in 13 shallow water blocks with Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC and also has several deep offshore assets. Its 2012 net daily production in Nigeria averaged 238,000 barrels of crude oil and 165 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Several oil majors have sold assets onshore or in the shallow waters of the Niger Delta over the past few years.

Nigeria suffers from widespread oil theft and at times difficult relationships with local communities onshore, driving up the costs of operating there, while a long-delayed energy bill is stuck in parliament, adding to industry uncertainty.

Joint owners Royal Dutch Shell, Italy’s Eni and France’s Total have sold several blocks.

Buyers of these included UK-listed firms Heritage Oil and Eland Oil. Chinese-owned Addax has said it is interested in buying more Nigerian assets.

Chevron’s blocks are at the exploratory stage, unlike Shell’s already producing fields, which will make valuations less straightforward, one banking source said.

U.S. firm ConocoPhillips is also planning to sell its Nigerian businesses to Oando Energy for about $1.79 billion, the company said in December.

Oil majors, which are looking more towards deepwater offshore, say they can’t invest in large new projects until the oil bill is passed.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Mr Samuel Olowokere, Assistant Director Press of the ministry.

According to the statement, Wogu said this while delivering a paper at a “Business Breakfast’’ hosted by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos State recently.

He said, the Federal Government alone cannot generate jobs for the youth.

Wogu said “the time to act is now as future generation will not forgive all of us, both the private and the public sector if we continue to renege on our collective responsibilities.’’

He said that his ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), was working on a two-pronged strategy with the aim of providing immediate short-term relief from unemployment.

Wogu said the ministry was also working on a long-term job creation in order to meet the structural infrastructure deficits through Labour Based Technology.

The statement also quoted the President of the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce, Arch. Emeka Awagu, as saying “unemployment was a global challenge of the modern society’’.

“The high rate of unemployment in Nigeria was one of the most critical problems bedeviling the nation in spite of its enormous human and material resources.

This call is contained in a circular issued by Mr Tope Ajakaiye, Director of Communications in the office of the head of service, in Abuja on Monday.

The circular, entitled: “Code of Conduct for Public Officers,” urged the workers to adhere strictly to the provisions of the law.

According to the circular, some public servants engage in private practise to the detriment of the services they are employed to render to the public.

It drew the attention of all public officers to Part I, Fifth Schedule, Section of 2 (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The sections states that, a public officer shall not…. engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.

“But nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming.

The circular warned that “failure to comply with this directive would not only be regarded as an unconstitutional act, but also an act of misconduct under the Public Service Rules.’’

 The President of the institute, Dr Wole Adetimehin, said in Lagos that the road traffic act ensured that road users ought to care for one another by insisting on a minimum insurance cover.

 According to him, insurance covers drivers’ liabilities to its passengers and other road users for injuries or damage that may result from operating the okada or tricycle.

 “By the road traffic act, any mobile vehicle or means of transportation by law is not allowed to ply the road except it carries the minimum third party insurance cover.

 “The law expects that every person owes the other person a duty of care.

 “And if by you operating a tricycle or a motorcycle, you are expected by law to carry a third party cover that will cover your liabilities to third parties for injuries or damages that may result from you operating a motorcycle or a tricycle.

 “So, such liabilities might be resulting from accident leading to death, injuries or damage to the other person’s vehicle or properties while you are operating the motor bike or motorcycle.

 “It would be a criminal act and an offence for anybody to ply the road or operate a motorcycle or tricycle without buying third party cover or any form of insurance.

 “But when you know the cost of the motor bike or tricycle to you, maybe you borrowed money, the person that has loaned you money would expect you to have an insurance backup and third party will not be acceptable in the event that the motorcycle is stolen or crushed and you might have to replace it.

 “Or be disable or have difficulty in repaying the loan, it will be a condition of the loan or funding that you must buy a comprehensive insurance cover.’’

Adetimehin said that ignorance of the provisions of the law with regards to the requirements for operating such modes of transport was not recognised by the law.

 According to him, the issues and challenges are in the area of enforcing the already existing laws.

“Again ignorance is no excuse in law and this is where we have issues and challenges in our peculiar environment.

 “We have all the rules, regulations and laws but people shy away from complying with these laws.

“And our enforcement, again, issues and challenges, rather than going for an outright enforcement, bringing people to book, they capitalise on it to extort and take undue advantage of such offences to their own selfish advantage.’’

Adetimehin said something ought to be done and urgently to encourage the use of insurance to minimise losses from accidents and the unforeseen.

This call is contained in a circular issued by Mr Tope Ajakaiye, Director of Communications in the office of the head of service, in Abuja on Monday.

The circular, entitled: “Code of Conduct for Public Officers,” urged the workers to adhere strictly to the provisions of the law.

According to the circular, some public servants engage in private practise to the detriment of the services they are employed to render to the public.

It drew the attention of all public officers to Part I, Fifth Schedule, Section of 2 (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The sections states that, a public officer shall not…. engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.

“But nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming.

The circular warned that “failure to comply with this directive would not only be regarded as an unconstitutional act, but also an act of misconduct under the Public Service Rules.’’

A statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, Assistant Chief Information Officer of the Agency, said that the programme would build the capacity of the youths for wealth creation and sustainable development.

It added that the state government was also working with the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa, the National Economic Reconstruction Fund, the Industrial Training Fund and the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria.

The statement said that the programme, with the theme “Youth Empowerment through Entrepreneurship Skills Development, Wealth Creation and Sustainable Economic Development”, would hold in Uyo from June 17 to June 21.

It would harness and harvest strategic and corporate synergies that would improve youth capacity on wealth creation, thereby reducing unemployment and youth restiveness, it added.

The statement noted that vocational training had over the years proven to be an effective tool for youth productivity.

It stressed the need for governments to promote youth empowerment programmes, through entrepreneurship skill to foster sustainable development in the country.

“an interlocutory order means any order than the final judgement of an action. It does not mean an order between the writ and the final judgement. It is an order available both before and after judgement in court”.

This proceedings are designed to assist parties pursue their cases and also ensure speedy resolution of matters. Once an action has been commenced, all subsequent applications are referred to as interlocutory application. Associates Ltd V. NNPC (1991) 8 NWL R (Pt 212) 657.

Interlocutory applications are made by way of motion. ORDER 39 RULE 1 (1) Lagos provides that whereby the rules as application is authorized to be made to the court or a judge in chambers, such application shall be made by motion. But in Abuja the application made by motion order 26 Rule 2 (1) Abuja 2009, are contentious applications, and these are made in court while the non contentious ones are made in chambers. But nevertheless whether it is in open court or in chambers the rules of justice must be adhered to. Oyeyipo V. Oyinloye (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt 50) 358. In Oyeyipo’s case it was held that the power of the Supreme Court to sit in chambers is derived from the rules made under section 236 of the constitution. In other words the power is constitutional and not a breach of section 36 (3) of the constitution which enacts that the court proceedings shall be held in public. An ordinary interlocutory application requires that there must be a substantive action in court or else the application will be incompetent. However a claimant may file any application along with an originating process and may serve both on a defendant simultaneously. Order 39 Rule 8 Lagos.

The procedure of serving an interlocutory motion together with a writ of summons before the defendant enters appearance is usually adopted where the plaintiff feels the need to urgently obtain an order of court, like in actions for damages for trespass, the plaintiff may feel the need to restrain a continuing trespass. This application cansure by way of written application or oral application (in certain cases) for example when the application is explicit enough even though the opposing party can object to oral application.

As effective as the interlocutory application has been shown to be in respect of speeding dispensation of justice, some have misused it.

The ongoing corruption trial of Gbenga Daniel former Ogun State Governor and the decision of the trial court to stay proceedings (adjournment) pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal by Gbenga Daniel is a misuse of interlocutory appeals as stay of proceedings in criminal trials in Nigeria. Gbenga Daniel had prayed the trial court to strike out counts 1-13 of the 38 count charges against him on the basis that a commission of inquiry set up by Ogun State government had already indicted him on those counts. The trial judge, Justice Mabekoje, dismissed his application and held that “An indictment by commission, of inquiry does not amount to conviction. The accused person was not tried for criminal offences. Only a court of law can try an accused for criminal charges.” Unhappy with this decision he headed to the court of appeal praying the court to stay proceedings on the case pending the determination of his appeal by the appellate court. Justice Mabakoje in my opinion has allowed Gbenga Daniel’s prayer even though he stated that the matter is adjourned. My worry in  Gbenga Daniel’s case is the time it takes for appeals to be adjudicated upon by the superior courts in Nigeria. Before the final adjudication on his interlocutory appeal will be given, he may have assumed another political post that grants him immunity from prosecution. It is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility, it has happened before. A good example of such a case is Senator Joshua Dariye who was charged in 2007 for various money laundering offences. Having lost a preliminary application to quash the charges against him; Dariye obtained a stay of proceeding pending the determination of his appeal. By the time the Supreme Court finally ruled in 2010 that he should be tried for those offences, Dariye has become a Senator.

I sincerely wish that the High Courts will give effect to section 40 of the EFCC Act which provides that “ “subject to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, an application for stay of proceedings in respect of any criminal matter brought by the commission before the High Court shall not be entertained until judgement is delivered by the High Court.”

In clear terms, the provision has divested the court of the requisite jurisdiction to adjudicate over any applications for stay of proceeding originating from criminal trial being prosecuted by the commission. I pray they adhere, and not change the name from stay of proceeding to long adjournment serving the same purpose desired by the applicant for the stay of proceeding.