By: Sunny Anderson Osiebe.
President of the
Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday stated that the 8th
Senate will work to streamline Nigeria’s multiple taxation system to
improve the ease of doing business in the country.
Speaking at a
dialogue at the 22nd Edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja,
the Senate President, while answering questions from the audience,
stated that Nigeria’s corporate taxation system
needed to be reformed and revamped to get the country out of the
economic recession.
“With 37 million
small and medium scale enterprises providing about 95 percent of our
jobs, as we promote ‘Made in Nigeria’, we must also use our legislative
powers to amend the taxation laws,” he
said, “To get out of this recession, we must provide a
business-friendly environment.”
Speaking on the
‘Made in Nigeria’ theme of the summit, the Senate President lauded the
organisers for keying into the Senate’s plan to empower home-grown
businesses and ensure that Nigerian brands
are strong enough to be patronized by our people and exported abroad.
“Earlier this
year, when in the Senate we started the ‘Made in Nigeria’ campaign, we
knew how important it was, but even we did not foresee how far it would
go,” he said. “To promote the patronage
of our domestic businesses, the Senate has gone as far as amending the
Public Procurement Act to compel government ministries, departments and
agencies to key into this initiative.”
“It is our hope
that Nigerian businesses can begin to benefit from the over N2 trillion
in government expenditure in the 2016 budget,” he continued, “So that we
can reduce the demand on foreign exchange
while simultaneously creating employment, moving towards self
sufficiency, increasing our GDP and boosting our Internally Generated
Revenue (IGR).
Saraki also
stated that the anti-recession Bills that the Senate has scheduled for
passage by December ending include: the Petroleum Industry Bill; the
National Development Bank of Nigeria (Establishment)
Bill; the Nigerian Ports and Habours Authority Act (Amendment) Bill;
the National Road Fund (Establishment) Bill; the National Transport
Commission Act of 2001; the Warehouse Receipts Act (Amendment) Bill; the
Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA); the Investment
and Securities Act (ISA); the Customs and Excise Management Act; the
Federal Competition Bill; and the National Road Authority Bill.
Saraki also
mentioned that since the beginning of the year, the Senate has worked
to fast-track the over 40 priority bills recommended by the National
Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER),
an initiative in which the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is a
major partner.
The Senate
President also said that one of the plans that the Senate has to ensure
the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in this administration,
is to break the Bill into different sections
for easier passage. The Senate President emphasised that with the
passage of the PIB, Nigeria would generate more revenue from oil —
putting it on track to come out of the economic recession.
“By focusing
more on outcomes, rather than processes,” Saraki said, “The Nigerian
Senate has been able to pass 20 Bills for Final Reading in two weeks.”
0 comments: