Nigeria Content Online

The
federal government yesterday directed the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to eliminate all forms of
multiple taxations from the country’s tax jurisdiction.

Minister
of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, who gave the directive at the
122nd meeting of the JTB in Abuja, emphasised the need for government
to continue pursuing good tax policy and administration in the country
as a vital part of strong economic management.

Mr.
Babalola listed advantages the country offers investors as a leading
financial centre to include a politically stable environment, a robust
regulatory system with good corporate governance standards, and a
dedicated workforce yet relatively cheap, pointing out that there is
need for the country to justify that recognition in Africa.

“The
country cannot afford to take these advantages for granted. All forms
of double taxation must be eliminated in our various jurisdictions,” he
said. “For the country to secure a position as a financial services
centre, we must strive to have an internationally competitive tax
system.

“Achieving
international competitiveness is not about reducing our tax rates to
the lowest in the world. Rather, we should focus on identifying and
removing barriers to the effective tax administration as well as strive
towards a system that is not only open and transparent, but providing
clarity and certainty, while maintaining integrity.”

All tax payers

Urging
the two institutions to ensure that they capture all predominantly
untaxed, yet potential and eligible taxpaying groups in the country,
the minister observed that the nation’s tax administrators still exist
largely in the era of ‘arm-chair revenue collection’, adding that a
situation where Federal Government employees are under-taxed as a
result of this cannot be justified by any explanation.

“The
expenses of government to the citizens of a great nation like ours, are
like the expenses of management to the joint tenants of a great estate
who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective
interests in the estate. The Board should spare no efforts at
galvanising support for the various tax authorities to reach out and
capture our predominantly untaxed, yet potential and eligible taxpaying
group,” he said.

Effective
administration of the various extant tax policies, according to Mr.
Babalola, will help shape Nigeria’s economic future, improve
productivity and enhance competitiveness, adding that “It will lift our
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so that Nigerians are better off. It has a
way of fighting the corruption virus in our system and it can deal with
intergenerational issues in a way that ensures a sustainable future.”

Decrying
the persistence of revenue leakages in the system, Mr. Babalola charged
the tax board to put in place measures to block the leakages of revenue
nationwide as well as ensure improvements in the willingness, accurate
declaration of tax liabilities and collection of tax from the populace.

The
board is composed of representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS), states internal revenue services/state boards of
internal revenue, as well as revenue agencies like the Nigerian Customs
Service (NCS), Federal Roads Service Commission (FRSC) and the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Its
chairman, who is also the executive chairman of the FIRS, Ifueko
Omoigui, said the JTB has not only discharged its role in ensuring
uniformity in the administration of personal income tax (PIT) in the
country, providing a forum for speedy resolution of conflicts between
members as well as providing advisory services to government on tax
matters in the last decade, but also facilitating the implementation of
tax reforms, including amendment of tax laws to address current
realities in the system.

Personal income tax

On
alleged introduction of new personal income tax by government, Mrs.
Omoigui denied any such decision, saying any increment in tax is
payable strictly in compliance with the ongoing reforms, adding that
the current ratio of about 6 percent of internally generated revenue
(IGR) to total revenue bears out the reality that 90 percent of the
taxes come from the pay as you earn (PAYE) mechanism.

She
called for the passage of the outstanding tax Bills before the National
Assembly, adding that government should grant increased administrative
and financial autonomy to state internal revenue services, establish
effective statistical database to facilitate future identification and
determination of tax administration-related issues as well as take
steps to curb the menace of multiple taxation at the federal, state and
local government levels in the country.

Porsche Sports Car Company has unveiled
the latest models of the Porsche Cayenne Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)
for years 2010 and 2011. The SUVs showcase a great body style with
unique interior qualities. The new cayenne is 48mm longer than its
predecessor, with a wheelbase also 40mm longer.

The latest Porsche Cayenne, which
unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2, comes with a lighter and
more agile body with full sporty characters.

To support its sporty features is an 18-inch alloy wheel, and a 19“ alloy wheels for its turbo model.

The interior is blessed with a very
satisfactory ambience that creates an exciting experience for its
driver and passengers. It comes with a leather interior, inclusive with
the seats. It has a dual-zone automatic climate control and an eight
way powered front seat adjustment. It comes with electric windows,
cruise control and built with a 100 litre fuel tank.

The most striking feature of the
interior is the creatively designed rising centre console that extends
to integrate with the gearshift selector, giving it the typical Porsche
‘cockpit’ character. The centre console also has an audio system with a
seven-inch intuitive touch- screen.

The Cayenne Turbo model comes with few exceptions like Bi-Xenon headlights, a customised BOSE audio system and 19 inch wheels.

Engine power

The engine of the new Porsche Cayenne comes in different types.

The Cayenne model
is powered via a 3.6 litre V6 petrol-engine, with an output of 300hp.
It integrates with an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission.

The Cayenne S Model
is powered with a 4.8 litre V8 petrol engine, with a maximum output of
400hp.It also integrates with an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic
transmission.

The Cayenne Diesel model comes with a three- litre V6 engine with a 240 bhp (176kW).

The Cayenne S Hybrid features a 333 hp drive train and a tiptronic S eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Cayenne Turbo is powered via a twin turbo charged 4.8 litre V8 engine, with 500 bhp (368kW).

Price

The latest Porsche
Cayenne comes in varying prices pertaining to its models. They are
£41,404 for the Cayenne, £44,178 for the Cayenne Diesel, £53,693 for
the Cayenne S and £57,610 and £81,589 for the Cayenne S Hybrid and
Cayenne Turbo respectively.

The Porsche Cayenne S, S Hybrid and Turbo come fitted with Porsche Vehicle Tracking system for security.

Members of the
World Bank agreed at the weekend to support a $5.1 billion increase in
its operating capital, the largest increase in general financing since
1988, and to give developing economies a greater say in running the
anti-poverty institution.

Under the changes,
China will become the bank’s third largest shareholder, ahead of
Germany, after the United States and Japan. Countries like Brazil,
India, Indonesia and Vietnam will also have greater representation.

“We are grateful to
our shareholding countries for this strong vote of confidence,” the
bank’s president, Robert B. Zoellick, said at the conclusion of the
spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The bank’s 186
members also agreed to support a reform package that calls for greater
openness and disclosure of information and improvements in managing
risks and measuring results.

The World Bank has
made $105 billion in financial commitments since July 2008 in response
to the global economic turmoil. The new capital in essence, allows the
World Bank to maintain its programs at their level before the crisis.

“We could start to
see this last year, at the time of our annual meeting, that unless we
could get additional capital infusion, we wouldn’t be able to continue
this high lending volume,” Mr. Zoellick said in an interview on Friday.
“And indeed, even coming out of the crisis, we would be in a position
where we’d have to come back below precrisis levels.”

In a Global
Monitoring Report, released Friday, the bank reported that the economic
crisis had slowed the pace of poverty reduction in developing
countries. As a result of the crisis, 53 million more people will
remain in extreme poverty by 2015 than otherwise would have, the report
found. Even so, the report projected that the number of people in
extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $1.25 a day – would be
920 million in 2015, a significant decline from the 1.8 billion in 1990.

Some developing
countries sought a bigger capital increase, as other development banks
have received. But the wealthier nations, which are squeezed, resisted
such a move.

Timothy F.
Geithner, the United States Treasury secretary, said Mr. Zoellick had
“made a strong and compelling case” for the money that was approved. He
pledged to seek Congressional support for the United States’ share of
the capital increase, $586 million or about $117 million a year for
five years.

“For every dollar
the United States contributes to paid-in capital for the World Bank,
$26 worth of assistance is delivered,” Mr. Geithner said Sunday.

Mr. Zoellick carefully devised the capital increase and voting changes to be adopted together.

The $5.1 billion in
so-called paid-in capital, which the bank can use for day-to-day
operations, will bring the bank’s cash on hand to about $40 billion. Of
the $5.1 billion, developing countries will contribute $1.6 billion in
connection with a shift in representation that will give them 47.19
percent of voting power, up from 44.06 percent. The actions fulfill a
pledge the bank’s members made in Istanbul in October.

In 2008, the bank’s
members approved a smaller shift of 1.46 percent of voting power to the
developing countries from the wealthy ones and added a 25th seat on the
bank’s governing board, raising to three the number of seats for
sub-Saharan Africa.

All told, the
cumulative shift of 4.59 percent of voting power amounts to the
greatest realignment in representation at the World Bank since 1988.

“As the developing
countries gain more shares, they have to pay for them,” Mr. Zoellick
said in the interview. “Part of the good story here is a burden-sharing
story.” The bank’s members approved on Sunday an $86.2 billion general
capital increase, bringing the bank’s total subscribed capital, not
counting about $26 billion in reserves, to $276.1 billion. But except
for the $5.1 billion, that new money is “callable capital,” which
resides with the member countries but can be drawn upon in an
emergency. (The bank has never had to do so.) The callable capital lets
the bank enjoy a top-notch credit rating and borrow at favorable rates.
All but roughly $40 billion of the $276.1 billion is callable.

The bank’s members
said it should redouble its focus on helping the poor, especially in
sub-Saharan Africa; invest in agriculture and infrastructure; promote
global “collective action” on climate change, trade and other
priorities; combat corruption; and prepare for crises.

Mr. Zoellick, who
served as the United States trade representative and then as deputy
secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said in the
interview, that the less wealthy countries were leading the global
economic recovery, while the United States, Europe, and Japan had
rebounded more slowly.

“A lot of growth is
coming from the developing world, and so the financing we do in the
developing world is now beyond charity and social solidarity – it’s a
question of self-interest,” he said. “They have become sources of
demand.”

The New York Times

Operators in the
maritime industry have been promised a good time, as the proposed
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is said to be designed to promote
economic activities among Nigerian ship owners who participate in the
freighting of crude oil in and out of the country.

The Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in a statement on Monday, signed
by Levi Ajuonuma, its group general manager in charge of Public
Affairs, said Shehu Ladan, group managing director of the NNPC, gave
the assurance at a reception organised by the Indigenous Shipowners
Association of Nigeria (ISAN), in Lagos.

Mr. Ladan said that
the PIB, if passed into law, would provide a conducive business
environment for ship owners involved in the oil business; assuring them
of his readiness to ensure that their investment is boosted through a
synergy between them and the Corporation.

“I want to assure
you that NNPC under my tenure would do whatever it takes to support
Shipowners of Nigeria origin to get returns on their investment. While
in the saddle, shipowners will not fail. I believe this would give the
Nigerian flagship its pride of place in the maritime industry,” the
NNPC boss said at the event, which was held in his honour and two other
members of the executive council of the federation.

The other two honourees are the Minister of Interior, Emmanuel Ihenacho, and the Minister of Transport, Yusuf Sulaiman.

Mr. Ladan applauded
ISAN for the honour done them and solicited for their collaboration
with the Corporation to sustain the effective export and import of
petroleum products.

Dividends of democracy

Presenting his
remarks, the Chairman of ISAN, Isaac Jolapamo, felicitated with the
honourees for their appointments and described them as “round pegs in
round hole.” He assured them of the association’s partnership and urged
them to use the little time left for them to deliver the dividends of
democracy to the shipping industry.

Mr. Ihenacho, the
Minister of Interior and one of the honourees, while addressing the
gathering, pledged his commitment to the growth of the maritime sector
in the country, adding that “indigenous shipowners would be encouraged
to participate more in the freighting of crude products.”

The president of
Lagos Business School, Pat Utomi, a professor of Political Science,
congratulated the honourees and described ISAN as one professional
association that has provided expertise, and capable of making the
Nigeria economy one of the greatest economies by year 2020.

The event was
graced by the former chief of general staff, Mike Aikhigbe; the
governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who was represented by his
Commissioner of Environment.

Against the
background of failing states, increasing lack of transparency in
governance and depleting trust in its budget implementation, experts
have urged governments at various levels to actively involve the masses
in their budgeting and implementation processes if they indeed desire
to facilitate the empowerment of the people.

This, they say, can
be achieved through the actual promotion and implementation of economic
literacy programmes at the grass root levels, the “politicising of
economic knowledge”, building existing knowledge of the communities,
the promoting of the understanding of economic process, and empowering
communities to take action to access decision making machinery.

Break it down

At the 5th edition
of the International Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for
Governance (ELBAG) training organised by Action Aid, Finance Analysts
and guest lecturers urged the government to actively and effectively
involve the participation of the masses for better government.

The event had a total of about 44 participants from 13 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia in attendance.

“Unless the people
understand the details of budgeting, they cannot effectively hold the
government accountable,” the country manager of Action Aid, Husseni
Abdu, said during the training in Lagos yesterday.

“The economy is an
important space for the poor. It is important to begin to break down
economies to allow people understand before they can actually engage
and challenge governance.”

According to him,
the announcement of increase in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and fall in inflation among other economic indices, without the
expected corresponding improvement in the welfare of the people, shows
that there is a disconnect somewhere.

Training objectives

Mr. Abdu said the
programme, titled International Economic Literacy and Budget
Accountability for Governance (ELBAG), is seeking to address the
disconnection between local, national and international level,
facilitate the empowerment of the people, ensure participation of the
poor and excluded, reduce corruption, and increase accountability in
the process of governance and policy making, particularly with regards
to budget formulation, economic planning and government decision making
among others.

Otive Igbuzor, an
international activist who was also present at the event, said there is
a relationship between budgets and poverty in an economy, and therefore
it is necessary that the challenges to budget formulation and its
implementation be identified if poverty eradication must be achieved.

“Budget is the most
important instrument of governance, apart from the constitution,” Mr.
Igbuzor said. “The general focus on budget has increased in recent
years. As democracy increases, the legitimacy of government decreases.
A budget is the statement of government estimated revenue and proposed
expenditure, a key instrument for macroeconomic management and is
supposed to perform fiscal functions of allocation, stabilisation, to
influence level of employment, prices, economic growth and distribution
of income and wealth.”

A huge number of
African countries score low in human development index, gender index
and environmental perfection indexes but are high on consumption, he
said. “We hope to be able to train a set of action aid staff who have a
very good understanding on budget and budgetary projects on how to use
budget to transform governance so that when they get back to their
respective communities,” he said. “They can also in turn, enable the
people there to be able to engage the government of their community. It
is a regular thing we have every year and the shifts run between
Nigeria, India and other countries.”

According to him,
the impact of the trainings (usually held yearly) is measured by the
level of people’s engagement with the government in our various
countries, to ensure improvement in government transparency in
governance. The next training is expected this time next year.

The process

Action Aid is an
international organisation present in many countries in the world.
ELBAG is one of the programmes run by the organisation, directed at
increasing people’s understanding of the economy and governance.

It is a process and
a methodology framework that combines organising people, developing
grassroots monitoring mechanisms, democratising knowledge, using
participatory tools and methods for building public accountability and
transparency to initiate people-centred advocacy process.

It creates a space where people can discuss economics and use it as an entry point to build democracy and governance.

Ultimately, the intention of t he programme is to propel accountability and promote transparency..

Cadbury Nigeria (CADBURY.LG)
said on Monday its net loss more than halved to 1.2 billion naira ($8 million)
last year from a 2.75 billion naira loss in 2008 while turnover rose around 5
percent.

The firm also said it had paid off bank debts, which helped drive it to
a loss in 2008, following the successful conclusion of a rights issue. It said
senior Nigerian banker Atedo Peterside had been appointed as its new chairman.