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FIRS Milestone H1 2023 Performance, A Success Foretold, By Dapo Okubanjo
For any one who has paid more than a passing attention to the activities of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in the last four years, the agency’s tax collection receipt in the first six months of 2023 would certainly not be surprising.This is because the FIRS under the leadership of Muhammad Nami has been constant in scaling new heights.
But even at that, a N5.5 trillion total tax revenue collection between January and June this year is not a mean feat especially as this was more than the N4.95trillion the FIRS collected in the entire 2020 fiscal year and about nine hundred billion naira less than the N6.4 trillion collected in all of 2021.
It is the highest ever tax collection by the service for the first six months of a fiscal year. But undeterred, the tax agency is convinced that it would better that number in the last six months of 2023.
In the words of the FIRS Executive Chairman on the day he made the record- breaking announcement at the meeting of National Economic Council (NEC) a few days ago, there are “better days ahead”.
And this he attributed to “continuing improvement to our tax processes and positive impact of current government’s policies on the economy”.A breakdown of the 2023 half year tax collection figure shows that while non-oil taxes continued to do well with N3.76 trillion, oil taxes stood at N1.73 trillion.
And listening to Muhammad Nami on the day, it would be difficult for anyone to bet against the agency exceeding that feat at the end of the fiscal year.
This is because it collected a total of N1.65 trillion tax revenues in June 2023 alone, the highest tax receipt by the agency in a single month.Success ForetoldA cursory look at FIRS trajectory since at least 2020 when the Muhammad Nami-led management assumed office shows that signs of a successful tax collection regime were there from the onset. This is inspite of the grim shadow of COVID-19 on the polity which was bound to have negative consequences on the economy.In the year the pandemic held the world in its grips, the agency’s tax receipt fell slightly short of its N5.07 trillion target when it raked in N4.95 trillion inspite of a global slump in crude oil prices and disruption to businesses.
One could easily recall how the FIRS Executive Chairman explained that the global oil slump impacted negatively on tax returns through the Petroleum Profits Tax which accounted for only 30.6% of the tax revenue generated in 2020, compared to previous years.So the country had to rely more on non-oil taxes which rose astronomically as a result of the deployment of a tax reform built on a 4-pronged approach which includes: rebuilding FIRS’ institutional framework, improving collaboration with stakeholders, making the agency a customer-centric institution and finally to turn it into a data-centric institution.
And with COVID-19 not fully a thing of the past, the tax reforms began to manifest in 2021 with increased stakeholder collaboration and the deployment of technology. It was the year of Tax Pro-Max so not surprisingly, FIRS overshoot its N6.401trillion target for that year.In a personally signed performance update for the 2021 fiscal year,the FIRS helmsman said the agency collected a total of N6.405 trillion in both oil (N2.008 trillion) and non-oil (N4.396 trillion) revenues as against a target of N6.401 trillion.
A further breakdown shows that Companies Income Tax amounted to N1.896 trillion; Petroleum Profits Tax brought in N2 trillion; Value Added Tax raked in N2.07 trillion; Electronic Money Transfer Levy topped N114 billion while Earmarked Taxes recorded N208.8 billion; among others. What this meant was that the non-oil sector contributed 68.64% of the total collection in 2021, while the oil sector’s contribution was 31.36% of total collection.
But in 2022, the oil sector did better as FIRS broke the N10 trillion mark by contributing 41% of the total tax collection for the fiscal year with an unprecedented figure of N4.09 trillion to N5.96 trillion from the non-oil sector according to the year’s performance update report.All of these can be attributed to a quantum leap in stakeholder engagements under the watch of the current FIRS leadership, an automated system with Tax Pro-Max as the guiding light for tax administration as well as training and retraining of FIRS staff to improve their capacity.
So it is quite easy to trace the performance index of FIRS from 2020 and come to the conclusion that its 2023 half year collection of N5.5 trillion was not entirely surprising. It is indeed a story of success foretold right from inception, not only because of the ongoing tax reforms but also because of improved stakeholder collaboration. And indications are that things can only get better.
Dapo Okubanjo is a journalist/public affairs analyst based in Abuja. He can be reached on dokubanjo@yahoo.co.uk
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By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
The Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) has entered into partnership with
Nigeria Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Nasarawa State Chapter, to drive fresh investment options in the State.
With 68,000 hectares, the Dangote’s Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited (NSCL) in Tunga, is considered Nigeria’s biggest Backward Integration Policy (BIP) project in the sugar sector.
Speaking to newsmen, Chairman of the Nigeria Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Nasarawa State Chapter, Nidan Sambo Manasseh, said the 2025 Trade Fair and Exhibition has provided the chance for the Dangote Group and NASSI to consider the numerous business opportunities in the State.
According to Manasseh, “We are actively exploring opportunities to deepen our collaboration with the Dangote Group, particularly in expanding employment programmes through youth and women’s skills acquisition and other vital support services.
“We deeply appreciate the Dangote Group’s invaluable collaboration through financial support and sponsorship of NASSI’s programs. Their contribution has been exceptional, and we are profoundly grateful.”
Continuing, Manasseh said the Nasarawa Trade Fair Exhibition (NASTFE) is a vital catalyst for the State’s economic transformation, adding that the strategic initiative by NASSI directly aligns with Governor Abdullahi Sule’s vision to stimulate investment and unlock significant growth.
He said Nasarawa State’s wealth in mineral resources is a central highlight of NASTFE, adding that the exhibition will showcase how its natural endowment can drive economic growth by encouraging value addition in raw material processing and manufacturing, particularly benefiting Small Scale Industries.
“NASTFE serves as a premier platform to showcase Nasarawa State’s considerable potential, connecting discerning investors with its abundant natural resources and dynamic human capital. Governor Sule’s commitment to a business-enabling environment is evident, with NASTFE designed to effectively communicate this compelling value proposition,” he added.
The chairman of NASSI said its objective is to leverage Nasarawa State’s rich natural resources to fuel economic growth by promoting value addition in raw material processing and manufacturing.
“This focus will enhance economic value, particularly for Small Scale Industries, attract crucial investment, generate employment opportunities, and contribute to poverty reduction,” he said.
A statement from the Dangote Group’s Chief Branding and Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said: “Nasarawa State is central to our overall investment in Nigeria. It is home to Dangote’s Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited (NSCL). The sugar project, when completed, will be one of the biggest sugar investments on the African continent.”
The statement quoted the Senior Special Adviser to the Dangote Group’s President, Fatima Wali Abdurrahman, as saying that: “We are not taking this partnership for granted. Our Strategic Business Units (SBUs) are participating.
According to her, some of the Business Units participating from the Dangote Group are: Dangote Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited (DPAN), Dangote SinoTruck, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Salt (NASCON) and Dangote Cement, among others.”
Mrs. Abdurrahman said the Trade Fair offers the company an opportunity to interact with stakeholders and Nigerians who may want to do business with the company.
She said a special Help Desk will be created for inquiries to enable the company to receive feedback from participants.
She urged participants to visit the company’s pavilion and take advantage of its innovative products.
By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, has pledged to intervene in the workers’ loan repayments that were deducted from their salaries but never remitted to the respective banks.
The Governor made this commitment while responding to an appeal by the Sokoto State Chairperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdullahi Aliyu, who urged the state government to intervene in the matter.
According to the NLC chairperson, many workers who took loans through salary deductions have continued to suffer due to the failure of officials in the previous administration to remit the deductions to the banks.
“Your Excellency, please come to the aid of these people. They have been at a crossroads for years,” Comrade Abdullahi appealed. “We know you to be firm in defending people’s rights. Please apply your popular slogan, in kudi kudi in aiki aiki, to recover the diverted funds.”
Governor Aliyu assured the labour leader and affected workers that his administration will investigate the matter and ensure that the right thing is done .
“This administration prioritizes human rights and will not condone any violations under any guise,” the Governor said. “We are committed to protecting the rights of the weak, the less privileged, and the downtrodden in our state.”
a statement by Abubakar Bawa, the Press Secretary to the governor quoted his principal as appealing to the people of State to continue their support and cooperation with his administration so that they can continue to benefit from the dividends of democracy.
The governor further expressed gratitude for the public’s fervent prayers to his administration and urged them to mentain the tempo.
By Abubakar Yusuf
Over the decades , the administration of Lands in the nation’s city and area councils has been characterised with series of sharp practices, corruption, fake allocation, encroachments, double allocations among many others from the FCT allocation to area councils allocations, creating so many crises that involved even the officials of both FCT and area councils.
These ugly development spanned for over two decades and since the movement of the FCT from Lagos to Abuja does not augur well for the development of Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja and had tend to erode and bastardise the original master plan of the FCT , hence creating frequent adjustments and readjustments ,through demolitions among many other things that will restore the FCT original master plan .
Determined to right the wrongs in the Land sector , along with physical, infrastructural and socioeconomic development of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike introduced a sweeping program that will restore not only the dignity of land administration in the FCT and area councils, but bring sanity to land administration in the nation’s city.
This is been done through the need to regularise the over 261,000 lands allocated by the area councils closed to two decades , precisely since 2006,(17 years), with only and barely 8,000 have been regularized.
According to the Minister , the new policy gave land allottees in FCT within 21 days to process and accept documents beginning from April 21, while land development that was kept for many decades will be developed within two years or attract revocation and re-allocation to interested developers without further delay .
It is on record that abandoned plots and uncompleted houses has been the abode for criminals , criminal elements and their collaborators, who engaged in all sorts of vices and criminalities across the length and breadth of the nation’s city and area councils .
In 2000, through Public Private Partnership PPP, Mass Housing of allocation of FCT land was carried out to interested companies and organizations, this was geared towards providing mass and affordable houses for Abuja residents across the FCT, the private developers took advantage of the mass arrangement without doing the needful, by proper titling , with the new arrangements on land reforms , reclamation and recovery, all allotted lands and allottees are expected to regularise their allocations henceforth.
Payment of fees and rents among other bills will be regularized with the new policy, as out of the 445 engaged Mass Housing Program through PPP, only two developers met with the terms and conditions specified by the FCT administration.
The Minister who was very explicit and determined on genuine land reforms made announcement inter alia as follows…
“WIKE INTRODUCES SWEEPING REFORMS IN FCT LAND ADMINISTRATION
• AREA COUNCIL LAND ALLOCATIONS TO BE REGULARISED
• MASS HOUSING PROPERTIES TO BE TITLED IN FAVOUR OF BUYERS
• ALLOTTEES MUST DEVELOP LANDS WITHIN TWO YEARS.”
“We are here to intimate you of the broad and comprehensive reforms on land administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that the Minister, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, has approved for implementation.”
“These reforms, which will become operational from April 21, 2025, cover specific areas like conditions of grant of Statutory Right of Occupancy, contents of the Statutory Right of Occupancy Bill, contents of Letter of Acceptance/Refusal of offer of grant of Right of Occupancy, titling of Mass Housing and sectional interests, as well as regularization of Area Council Land documents.”
“It should be noted that before now, deadline for payment of bills, rents, fees and charges is not specified in the Statutory Right of Occupancy bill, and no penalty for failure to make payment promptly. This has caused delay in revenue receivable due to non-collection of Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) and non-payment of bills, slower pace of infrastructural development, sustained land speculation and racketeering while huge expenses have been incurred by the FCT Administration through repeated advertisements and publications notifying the public on the need for collection of R-of-O and timely payment of bills and charges.”
“Consequently, as against the unspecified period within which to collect the Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) and make full payment of the Statutory Right of Occupancy bills and charges, land allottees now have 21 days from the date of offer, to make full payment of all bills, fees, rents and charges prescribed on offers of Statutory Rights of Occupancy and submit a duly completed Letter of acceptance alongside evidence of payments, or lose the offer.”
“Also, as against the lengthy period within which to develop allocated lands, the period within which to erect and complete developments on any land granted in the FCT is now two years from the date of the commencement of the R-of-O.”
“Therefore, any R-of-O bills and any other payments made outside the stipulated 21 days shall be considered invalid while any land granted should be developed within two years. ”
“On lands previously allocated by Area Councils, the law stipulates that all lands in the FCT are urban land. It therefore becomes necessary that all land documents issued by the Area Councils are considered for regularization to statutory titles in line with relevant statutes.”
“It should be noted that in 2006, the Zonal Land, Planning and Survey offices of the six Area Councils were directed to submit all Area Council allocation lists, layouts, files and registers to Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS)/Lands Department, and this was done by the Area Councils.”
“However, to date, out of the 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted for regularization, only 8,287 have been vetted, out of which only 2,358 were cleared, validated and regularized to statutory titles. The 8,287 were vetted from 2006 to 2023 (17 years), and this represents just 3.2% of the total land documents submitted for vetting and regularization as at today, the FCT Administration is still left with 253,627 submissions in its database.”
“Area Council land documents successfully vetted and confirmed would have statutory titles on such lands issued and the allottees will have sixty days to make full payments of all bills, fees, rents and charges prescribed, failure of which the offers shall become invalid.”
“On Mass Housing, it should be noted that the Mass Housing Programme was initiated in year 2000 to utilize the Public Private Partnership (PPP) strategy with the objective of providing affordable housing for the residents of FCT. ”
“However, from the inception of the Mass Housing programme in 2000 till date, out of the 445 Mass Housing allocations granted, only two developers have successfully met the terms and conditions.”
“A new operational framework for titling of Mass Housing and Sectional Interests has been developed to fast-track the exercise efficiently, effectively and diligently, in line with the Minister’s vision to restore confidence in the administration of lands in the FCT.”
“Currently, the holders/occupiers of properties within the various Mass Housing Estates in the FCT do not pay and bills, rents, fees and charges to the government despite having held and occupied the properties for decades.”
“In recognition of the urgent need to issue titles to the beneficiaries of Mass Housing and Sectional Interests, all applications for titling are to be made by the Subscribers/Developers to the Department of land Administration for processing.”
“Processing of titles for Mass Housing and Sectional Interests shall commence on April 21, 2025, in line with the new operational framework. ”
The release further shed more light…
“The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) screened only 8,287 out of the 261,914 area council land documents submitted for regularization between 2006 and 2023.”
“Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday.”
“Olayinka said that the 8,287 vetted land documents represented only 3.2 per cent of the 261,914 documents submitted for vetting and regularization. ”
“According to him, the FCT Administration was still left with 253,627 submissions in its database.”
“He explained that the measure was part of the broad and comprehensive reforms on land administration in the FCT approved by the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike.”
“He said that the reforms, which would become operational from April 21, covers specific areas like conditions of grant of statutory Right of Occupancy (R of O), and contents of the statutory R of O bill.”
“Others, he said, would include contents of Letter of Acceptance/Refusal of offer of grant of R of O, titling of mass housing and sectional interests, as well as regularization of area council land documents.”
“He explained that the crux of the sweeping reforms in the FCT land administration would ensure the regularization of land allocations in area councils and title of mass housing properties in favour of buyers.”
“He added that land allottees were also expected to develop allocated lands within two years.”
“The spokesman explained that in 2006, the Zonal Land, Planning and Survey Offices of the six area councils were directed to submit all area council’s allocation lists.”
“He added that the lists, which were submitted to the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) and Lands Department, included layouts, files and registers.”
“Olayinka, however, said that to date, out of the 8,287 vetted documents, only 2,358 lands were cleared, validated and regularised to statutory titles.”
“He said that area council land documents successfully vetted and confirmed, would be given statutory titles on such lands.”
“He added that the allottees would have sixty days to make full payments of all bills, fees, rents and charges prescribed, failure of which the offers shall become invalid.”
“The spokesman explained that the action was in line with the provision of the law, which stipulated that all lands in the FCT were urban land.”
“It, therefore, becomes necessary that all land documents issued by the area councils are considered for regularization to statutory titles in line with relevant statutes,” he said.
In the same vein , the Director of Land Administration, FCTA, opined …
“The Director of Land Administration, FCTA Chijioke Nwankwoeze, said that the decision to regularise lands issued by area councils was to give the land reform a human face.”
“Nwankwoeze noted that not much progress had been achieved from 2006 to date, considering the 253,627 land documents, representing 96.8 per cent awaiting clearance.”
“He, however, expressed optimism that the documents would be cleared in two years following the framework approved by Wike.”
“I am confident that the holders of area councils’ lands will begin to smile because they will now have statutory R of O and Certificate of Occupancy upon full payments of requisite bills,” he said.”
With the new policy thrust, the issue of land speculations , land grabbing and fraud sweeping across FCT, that had become milk and honey of questionable Nigerians will become a thing of the past , as well as restore the good image of the nation’s city and it’s area councils.
Written BY ABUBAKAR YUSUF on yus.abubakar3@gmail.com.