Summons Gusau over non-payment of Super Falcons allowance

The ad hoc committee investigating the face-off between Super Falcons and Officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has once again summoned Ibrahim Gusau, the president of the federation.

Blessing Onu, the Chairman of the ad hoc committee investigating the face off, re-invited Gusau after he failed to appear on Tuesday.

Re-inviting the NFF president, Onu said the sitting of the committee was not to witch-hunt anyone but to discharge its functions in line with the mandate of the House.

Onu, who issued the notice, frowned at the NFF President’s deliberate refusal to honour the invitation of the Ad hoc committee.

According to her, the NFF president was supposed to appear before the ad hoc committee on August 17 , the reasons the NFF president gave were not as important as the work of this ad hoc committee.

“Nigerians are interested, Nigerians are watching. The girls did extremely well and they made Nigerians proud, so we shouldn’t take this investigative hearing lightly.

“We gave an opportunity for the president of NFF to appear before this Ad hoc committee, I will say invariably he is the one summoning us.

“He came up with an excuse that it is not as important as what we have. The allowances and the dues that were supposed to be paid to the female footballers, the Super Falcons and he turned it down.

“What is more important is for him to attend the FIFA Women Convention or to appear before this committee.

” And even at that, he has the effrontery to send his SA that he won’t be able to make it, it simply means he is taking us for granted, he is taking us for a ride and we will not tolerate it, we will not,” she said

Speaking earlier, the NFF Secretary General, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said the NFF President could not attend the investigative hearing because of his ill-health.

The ad hoc committee, however, walked out the Secretary-General and his team who came to represent the NFF president.

Meanwhile, some concerned members of the committee who did not want their names mentioned at the sideline of the investigative hearing, alleged that the NFF President was asked not to appear before the committee.

LIRS reiterates renewed efforts in using technology, advocacy to shore up revenue

The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, has reaffirmed its renewed efforts in leveraging cutting-edge technology and effective advocacy to significantly enhance the state’s revenue generation.

The Executive Chairman, LIRS, Mr Ayodele Subair, made this known while speaking in an interview on The Tax Talk, a newly launched 30-minute public enlightenment television programme on taxation, monitored on Channels Television recently.

The Tax Talk, an LIRS production, is broadcast every week on TVC, Channels, LTV and WAP TV.

While speaking on the programme, Subair noted that the use of technology has helped the agency in optimizing its operations while also enhancing revenue generation for the state.

He lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for introducing the use of technology in the generation of the state revenue during his tenure as the state governor.

According to him, past governors such as Babatunde Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode, and the current governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also made efforts in upholding the autonomy of LIRS, which has led to a notable level of effectiveness.

Subair noted, “One of the first things we did was to look at the market, the taxpayers and then we did some element of market segmentation, recognizing that there are some players in the market who work in an unstructured environment, some work in a structured environment, formal and informal. We looked at the situation where we have high net worth individuals, and then we set up shop to make sure that we plan to cater for the different needs of the different segments of taxpayers. So having done that, we looked at our processes, did a lot of process reengineering, and looked at removing all the things that would make our jobs longer or more difficult. We also looked at the staffing arrangements, we looked at human resources and designed a whole set of training programs to ensure that everybody is up to the task.”

Speaking further, he said;  “We looked at the applications that we had in place in terms of the software. How efficient were they? How easy was it for members of the public to access and also to understand? So, we came up with the e-tax application, which is an end-to-end tax administrative solution. It runs through the whole process, right from registration to raising of assessments, up to the filing of tax returns, making payments through the various payment channels, the ability to print out the receipts, and of course, at the end of the day, generate tax clearance certificates. So, with that in place, it’s gone a long way.

According to him, “If we did not introduce technology, no, doubt, we’re going to have very, very limited success. We have our e-tax and we also have our IBILE hub software to take care of the informal sector. One of the key features of the IBILE hub software is that it allows instalment payments from members of the sector.

“With the e-tax solution, people no longer have to troop and come to LIRS offices. From the comfort of their homes, they can carry out all their tax business, all the things that had issues in the past, that had problems, that created tension between the public and members of the organization, all these have been taken out completely. And there’s the ease of doing business. So, with this, move in that direction, we expect to move the revenue upwards continually. We’re quite confident that we will get there.

“We’re exploring constantly and bringing initiatives on how we can leverage fully on technology. We intend to set up some research unit that will delve more into technology to see how it can be relevant to our operations and of course, to the benefit of taxpayers. We’re constantly looking at how we can make tax experience very easy for members of the public.”

The LIRS chairman said the use of advocacy has also played a big role in its tax administration, as the agency makes it a priority to always engage taxpayers and stakeholders.

“The key thing in tax administration is for you to be positive all the time. You should never have a cannot do spirit. So, we were quite optimistic. All we have to do is continue to improve on advocacy and remind residents of Lagos that there’s a social contract. They expect so many things from the government, the government also expects them to carry out their civic duties. So, we expect that members of the public who come and file, not just file their return, they file honestly and pay the appropriate taxes when the tax is due. One thing that drives this is there’s a certain level of mistrust between the people and the government.

“Part of our duty is to try and bridge that gap and remove all the elements of distrust from members of the public because where members of the public start to trust the government in place, that is what is helping Lagos to drive revenue. People come to Lagos; they can see the level of development; they can see the level of growth in the system. You can also see that members of the public get highly qualitative, social utilities to use and social services like schools, hospitals, and all the expectations. So, we might not exactly be where we want to be. But we are certainly moving in that direction. And if you compare Lagos state with all the other states in Nigeria, the difference is very clear. So, we’re very optimistic that we will continue to push continue to improve on advocacy,” he submitted.

NDDC MANAGEMENT, SECURITY WORKERS FIGHT DIRTY OVER NON-PAYMENT OF SIX MONTH SALARIES

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has dismissed allegations that it was owing its security workers six months salaries.

Its Director of Corporate Affairs, Dr Pius Ughakpoteni, reacted to the claim in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

Security workers attached to the commission on Tuesday threatened to carry out a peaceful protest over non-payment of their salaries.

Ughakpoteni said that NDDC was not directly responsible for the payment of salaries to its security workers, and explained that it was the duty of contractors hired by the commission.

“We are aware of the reports in the media claiming that our security workers were threatening to protest non-payment of their monthly salaries.

“We wish to state that the commission engages security companies, who in turn employ and pay security guards to work at our various offices, to safeguard our facilities.

“These service providers are certainly not being owed for six months as alleged in the media reports,” he said.

He said the security companies hired by NDDC in Delta and Rivers states had informed the commission in its report that the security personnel had been paid as of August 22.

“There is no basis for the companies to owe their workers arrears of salaries especially as the contract they signed with NDDC addresses that.

“The clause states that the company must have the capacity to pay their staff for at least two months in the event of any delay from the commission.

“So, we want to assure the security workers that monies meant for payment of their salaries were not diverted to other businesses as alleged,” he added.

Ughakpoteni said the commission has a zero-tolerance policy for corrupt practices and urged members of the public with evidence of such illicit practices to reach out to NDDC for prompt action.

He said the threat by the security officials to protest at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt was no longer acceptable but through peaceful means.

According to him, the Samuel Ogbuku-led NDDC has laid the foundation for rapid economic development and sustainable governance structure for effective operations of the commission.

“We restated that entrenching the tenets of accountability and transparency in our activities forms part of the thrust of the new NDDC management.

“We assure our stakeholders and members of the public that the NDDC management will not be distracted in its resolve to do things differently in developing the Niger Delta,” he stated.

Lagos Assembly rejects Barakat Bakare, Fashola, Adefisayo, Abayomi, Oluyomi, Ambrose, Omotosho, Odusote, , Dada, Egube, Fatodu, Hammond, George, Adeyoye, Osiyemi, Ogunwuyi, Oluyinka.

The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Wednesday, rejected 17 out of the 39 cabinet nominees sent by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for screening

Those rejected by the House include Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, Prof. Akin Abayomi, Mr Yomi Oluyomi, Mrs Folashade Ambrose, Ms Barakat Bakare, Mr Gbenga Omotosho, Engr. Olalere Odusote, Dr Rotimi Fashola, Mrs Bolaji Dada, Mr Sam Egube, Mr Olalekan Fatodu, Mrs Solape Hammond, Mr Mosopefolu George, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, Mr Seun Osiyemi, Mr Rotimi Ogunwuyi, and Dr Olumide Oluyinka.

The confirmed nominees include Layode Ibrahim, Mr Mobolaji Ogunlende, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, Bola Olumegbon, Mr Idris Aregbe, Ms Abisola Olusanya, Mr Moruf Fatai, Mr Kayode Bolaji-Roberts, Engr. Abiola Olowu, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Dr Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya, Mr Yakub Alebiosu, Mr Lawal Pedro, Mr Tunbosun Alake, Mr Gbenga Oyerinde, Dr Adekunle Olayinka, Dr Jide Babatunde, Mr Afolabi Ayantayo, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, Mr Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, and Mr Abdulkabir Ogungbo.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the day’s plenary, said the confirmation followed a rigorous and detailed screening of the nominees by an ad hoc committee led by the Chief Whip of the House, Hon. Fatai Mojeed.

Obasa commended the committee for its effectiveness and urged the confirmed nominees to always remember that they are in office to serve the people of the State and not individuals.

He also promised that the House would continue to do its best in the interest of the State.

The confirmation was done through a voice vote as Obasa mentioned the name of each of the nominees.