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By Femi Onakanren In January 2023, the FIRS announced a landmark tax revenue return of N10.1trn in both oil (N4.09trn) and non-oil (N5.96trn) for 2022. Although the agency had an ambitious target of N10.44trn for the year 2022, to go past the N10trn mark is truly a historic development. To truly appreciate the importance of this development, this is double the N5.007trn recorded in 2012. Incidentally, the N5.007trn recorded in 2012 was the highest at the time. Two weeks ago, the tax authority announced that in just half of the year 2023 it had raked in N5.5 trillion Naira. This…

By Salisu Na'inna Dambatta It is common truth that no country on earth, including Nigeria, is able to tax all the taxables, or even bring all the untaxed into the tax net. Tax registers everywhere rarely contain all the untaxed as required by the tax laws. Even though the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which last tax year (2022) celebrated a record N10.1 trillion tax collection for the federation, the country wants it to generate more than that amount of money in 2023. It is a positively achievable ambition by the top tax man, Muhammadu Nami, who turbo-charged the tax gathering…

Though it’s too early to start appraising the newly inaugurated members of the 8th Abia State House of Assembly, there is need to give kudos to the Member Representing the good people of Obingwa West State Constituency, Hon. Erondu Uchenna Erondu Jnr, for his good start at the plenary of the House recently. While his fellow first timers in the House are still dusting their seats for the tasks ahead for the next four years, Hon. Erondu Uchenna Erondu Jnr, has moved the first motion of the 8th Abia House of Assembly, Calling on the Federal Government to suspend the…

By Rachel Jantiku It is common knowledge that taxation plays a vital role in the economic development of every country whether developed, developing or under developed, and Nigeria is no exception. Government at all levels depends on the tax it collects to run the affairs of the State and it is the duty of every taxable citizen to contribute their quota to this effect. Without taxes, there can be no country. According to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999: Section 24 (f) of 1999 Constitution (as amended) it states that “it shall be the duty of every…

After an unexpectedly sluggish start (it took him longer than usual to appoint his spokesperson, which conduced to the luxuriant flowering of avoidable rumours and disinformation), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is finally decisively stamping his authority on the Nigerian political space with a frenetic blizzard of appointments and disengagements of the personnel of government. Both supporters and opponents of the president appear flushed with fervour by the ongoing whirlwind of firing and hiring. It has even infused a new lease of life to the notoriously lethargic Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which has emerged as one of the most reliable sources…

A combination of Orji and Yari would have done the damage and set the 10th Senate on the part of self assertiveness from day One. By Dele Oni The election of Presiding officers of the Senate is regulated by the Provisions of its Standing orders, just like other Parliaments across the world, but the choice of who to vote for is a decision of  personal conviction of Senators. The road to the Seat of the Presiding officers of the 10th Senate was a long winding route, bargaining, alignments and realignments, before the General elections of February 2023 it was obvious…

By Dr. Bashir Lamido  " Ambition should be made of stener stuff" when William Shakespeare made this assertion he was referring to the likes of former governor of Abia state and Chief Whip of the 9th Senate Orji Uzor Kalu. 13th of June 2023 was a typical day in the annals of Nigerian Parliament, a day that was to produce a  Pandorax box from the Senate, the Dooms day, expectation of a turbulent voyage that turned a smooth Sail after all. Nigerians expected a tug of War and clash of heavy weights, yours sincerely did too, being aware of the…

By Emeka Ugwuonye As I watched Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s speech on the floor of the Senate, tears came to my eyes too. For the six months he spent in unjust and wrongful imprisonment in Kuje Prison, I spent average of two hours with him every day. He is one of the best Nigerian leaders when you get to know him well. I am sure you have never seen me praise any Nigerian politician publicly, not even Zik, not even Awo, not even M. I. Okpara. But I have no hesitation in praising OUK. And if you recalled, he was…

By Kelechi Okoronkwo For a long time, more than twelve years, Nigeria wore a “Lowest Tax-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Ratio” in the whole world like a garment. In tax and economy conferences and public discussions both local and internal, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP status was always on the front-burner. While some people showed genuine concern, others scorned Nigeria for having a Tax-to-GDP ratio quoted as hovering around five to six percent. Earlier in May, 2023, the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) expressed genuine worry about Nigeria’s tax system and the Tax-to-GDP ratio. The CITN was not alone in expressing concerns…

In 2015, a day before the election that brought President Buhari to office, I made a last-ditch effort to warn Nigerians about the impending doom of electing a man whose leadership credentials were uninspiring and laden with evidence of failure. I published “The Death of the African Big Man” on March 28, 2015, Presidential elections. The article generated virulent attacks from the All Progressives Congress (APC) mob, whose major defining quality was an inability to reason. In the article, I argued that Gen. Buhari did not possess the acumen, intellect, energy, and managerial capacity to run the modern, large, and…