DAILY TRUST
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Business ADS Increases project works in Nigeria MRS Uwaoma Ekeoma, Assistant Director, African Financial Institution (AFI), says the African Development Bank (ADB), has increased its project implementation in Nigeria from 21 percent to 48 per cent. Ekeoma made the announcement on Tuesday in Abuja at a workshop on Improving Financial Management and Disbursement Implementation Capacity for Projects. She said tl,e workshop was aimed at improving the quality of project implementation by proViding project teams with the nec, essary tools to ensure good fmancial management syslems. Ekeoma, who represented the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry ·of Finance, added that the ADB had decided to focus on financial management and disbursement issues in Nigeria. "We will continue to discharge our obligation as stipulated in the various . ·agreements and protocols executed with the bank group in furtherance of project implementation in the country. , "The ministry will ensure timely release ofgovernment's counterpart funding, insulation of p·roject implementation units from political interference .and effective project monitoring and supervision. "We ' will henceforth, recommend to the bank for cancellation of any nonperforming projects in its portfolio and that the outstanding balance of such projects would be expeditiously re-allocated to other performing ones;' Ekeoma said. The ADB Country Representative, Mr John Baffoe, said that many of the bank's financed projects in Nigeria still had fmancial management and disbursement issues that slowed down their inlplementation. He expressed the hope that at the end of the workshop, participants would understand and be able to apply financial management and disbursement rules and procedures of the bank in project implementation.
INigeria'stax system anti-workers' FROM Mohammed Shosanya,Lagos but we are not in support of the present system where the average organisation is not sure of the NIGERJA:S tax system is obsolete and the coun- quantum of tax from different Agencies that it try is still operating the relief system that has must have to pay periodically. "Taxes should be well defined and strucbeen in existence since the 1970s, PresidentGeneral of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria tured to avoid multiple taxations. This also has (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele has said. caused some companies to relocate to other He disclosed this in at the 2011 May Day rally climes where they enjoy better tax holidays. which held in Abuja. Proper and sensible tax administration must According to him, while the tax increases be deployed to keep our old companies and astronomically, the relief has been stagnant, attract new ones": adding that this is an injustice to the working . Picking holes in the privatization of public populace who are the highest income tax payers entities by various governments in the country, in the country. Esele said the policy turned out to be a ploy to He therefore demanded that the tax relief sys- share the nation's patrimony by the privileged tem in the current tax law be revisited to be in political elite. tandem with the current realities in the country. According to him, currently the sale of the "It is also our believe that those who make 37-storey NECOM House which belongs to stupendous wealth from this country must be NITEL is enmeshed in controversy as the NITEL made to pay adequate and commensurate Tax management has expressed disgust that the Iiq-
uidators of the parastatal decided to over-step its brief by selling the national monument to an individual under mysterious circumstances. He said the government ought to be worried that its Privatization Policy has been very unpopular and that majority of Nigerians are dissatis.fied that the collective wealth of the country is being handed over to the privileged elite. ·He demanded that President Jonathan should investigate past privatizations exercise and make ·it more transparent _ On the nation's import libralisation, Esele advised that there should be a deliberate policy of supporting local manufacturers at all levels of the production process. "This will enhance their capacities thus create greater absorptive capacities in the economy to handle the flow of new demands for jobs. If there is no industry, there is no work If there is no work, there will be no job for our people~
LG earmarks N35m as loan to boost onion production ALIERO Local Government Counc il in Kebbi bas earmarked N35 million as soft loan to farm ers to boost the production of onion in commercia l quantity. Alh aj i Salihu Nabara , th e Sole Administrator of the co un cil, disclosed this on Tues day in Bimin Kebbi. Nabara said that the mo ney had been pro vided in the cou ncil's 20 II budget. He said that certified onion farmers wou ld be able to access the facility, adding
that they would also be proVided with fertiliser and insecticides at s.u bsidised rates. According to him , abo ut 2, 500 onion farmers are expected to benefit fro m the loan. T he administrator furlher said that a committee would be constituted to determine the amount 10 be given to each ben eficiary. Nabara promised that lhe facility wo uld be sustained to encourage the productio n
and export of on ion, for which the area has comparative and·competitive advantage. He appealed to o nion ·farmers to make good use of the facility, which, he said is repayable in two yea rs. According to him, fa rmers who repaid the loan within the stipu lated period, wo uld be granted fresh loan with some waivers. Last year, the council prov ided 2,500 water pumps as soft loan· to farmers to promote agricu ltu ral production. (NAN).