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Actionaid Urges FG To Curb Illegal Financial Outflow

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The Country Director,
Actionaid, Nigeria, Dr Hussein Abdul, has urged the Federal Government to curb its losses through transfer pricing,  mispricing, tax avoidance and tax manipulation.
Abdul told journalists in Abuja that the money lost yearly in the extractive sector was almost equal to the nation’s annual budget.
The country director said that in solving the problem of illegal financial outflow from the oil and gas sector, Nigeria needed to put in place a strong accounting policy.
According to him, the occurrence is a major challenge hindering the nation’s development, especially being the largest economy in Africa and extractive driven.
“As a major exporter of crude and gas in Africa, it is a major challenge. Currently, what Nigeria is losing through transfer pricing and mispricing, tax avoidance and tax manipulation is quite huge.
“The money we lose yearly is almost equal to our annual budget. This is quite unacceptable because this is the money that would have been invested in the lives of the people.
“This money would have gone a long way to improve our infrastructure and ensure better education and health services.
“Nigeria does not know how much crude it exports. The information we get is based on what the multinationals tell us.
“We must institute a strong governance system that is internally accountable and not externally accountable.
“What that means is that if a multinational company is coming to Nigeria, it must be prepared to remain independently accountable to the Nigerian system.
“Profit is not declared based on an accumulated income from the branches it has all over the world. It should be based on what they are making from Nigeria alone.’’
Abdul urged the government to improve the economic environment and infrastructure, especially electricity to be able to attract the right kind of investment that would grow the economy.
“What motivates investors is the economic environment. All the major tax concessions and holidays these corporate bodies enjoy need to be abrogated.
“Because these concessions are being manipulated on a daily basis and therefore, we do not get the right taxes from these corporations
“Tax is not even a good incentive to draw foreign investment. For instance, a company will come to Nigeria, and is given tax concessions and holiday, maybe five years.
“Then the company runs for five years, enjoys the holiday and after that period, the company gets sold to another body, who changes its name, reapply for holiday, gets it, it expires, sells it again.
“That practically means that the tax you are ordinarily supposed to be collecting throughout that period are not paid.
“There are telecoms companies in this country that have changed names several times. Ask yourself why and that is the reason,’’ he said.
Our correspondent reports that during the recently held World Economic Forum, former President of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, announced that Africa loses over 50 billion dollars yearly through illegal transactions.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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