Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Interior Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has reacted to those canvassing for his resignation over recent spate of jail breaks in the country, saying such calls were unnecessary and cannot be enough reason for him to resign his position as minister.
This is just as the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its weekly meeting yesterday approved necessary funding for the procurement of 49 Green Marias and also okayed the 2021 Finance Bill already before the National Assembly for approval.
Aregbesola, who spoke while addressing newsmen after the week’s virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, noted that the series of jailbreaks did not happen as a result of lack of preparedness, but situations that were occasioned by series of factors.
He was quick to add that the federal government is doing all that is necessary to make the correctional facilities impregnable.bThe minister noted that a number of prison officials died defending the custodial centers, which he said is the highest form of honor for the country.
His words: “Imo was in April this year. Kabba was in September. Abologo was in October and Jos was in November. Those captured the attacks. As painful as those attacks were, very painful, nobody will really want the end of justice to be so vulnerable.
“The custodial facilities are the final end of criminal justice administration. So, morally, the state owes itself the responsibility of safe custody that must not be violated
“On that account alone, we must appreciate the enormity of any successful attack on custodial facilities, and I so do, but I want us to put these things in the context of our security situation.
“When our best does not suffice, it’s no longer a question of your inability to make preparation or failure for preparation or preparedness. It’s just that at that instance, you just couldn’t hold the defense and several factors are responsible.
“What I can assure Nigerians is this. Yes, as contextual as these attacks and the successes such criminals are having, we are upping our game and we will not allow, we will prevent any such opportunistic attack and even make it impossible. And that is what the state must do.
“We are working with all arms of government, particularly the security, to make our custodial facilities impregnable. We will not rest until that is achieved. So, that’s the assurance I’ll give to Nigerians.
“As to whether it calls for my resignation. I still don’t see any need for that because it’s not for lack of preparedness that the attacks were successful. No.
“Even the men in uniform, yes the hazards of their job could lead to their death, but none of them would prepare to die. These are human beings. For anyone of them to fall, it signifies the fact that no effort was spared and efforts that led to the sacrifice of human life cannot be trivialised”.
He stressed that the death of prison officials during the attacks is a testimony to the efforts put into prevent them.
Meanwhile, the FEC has approved the sum of N965.9 million for the purchase of 49 operational vehicles for use by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).
According to Aregbesola, the vehicles, which would be procured from local manufacturers, would complement the ones already in use by the Correctional Service.
He said: “The Nigerian Correctional Service through the Ministry of Interior presented a memo to council and obtained approval to spend the sum of N965,902,524.58 to procure 49 operational and Green Maria vehicles.
“These 49 vehicles will complement the 513 operational and Green Maria vehicles already purchased between 2016 and 2020. This does not in any way mean that we have met the vehicle needs of the Nigerian Correctional Service but noting that since the advent of this administration, concerted effort and commitment are being made to ensure that the Correctional Service is provisioned with operational tools to meet its mandate of keeping the facilities safe as well as having the logistics to move inmates from the facilities to the over 5022 courts scattered all over Nigeria”.
FEC also ratified the Finance Bill 2021/2022 fiscal year.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zaynab Ahmed, while announcing the ratification to newsmen at the briefing, explained that the bill, which is currently before the National Assembly, focused on tax as well as reviewing and amending some 11 fiscal laws.
She further explained that rather than proposing new taxes, or increasing tax rates, the Finance Bill for the 2022 fiscal year focuses on closing loopholes and improving tax administration.
Her words: “This draft bill was prepared by the Fiscal Policy Committee and it focused on tax and reviewing some fiscal laws and also amending some and these laws, about 11 in number, that have been affected. The purpose for us is to be able to refine our fiscal laws to improve tax compliance and also to enhance revenue generation.
“So, the proposed legislation falls under five broad categories. The first one of course, is domestic revenue mobilisation and various measures are proposed in the bill to enhance revenue and these include; one limited, excellent exemptions of case from shares disposals from capital gains tax to long term equity investments, out to a close in tax loopholes for companies that are transmitted from the previous federal public tax regime to the world corporate tax and have recovered tax regime that is provided under the new petrol industry act of 2021. Three, there’s also provisions that have been made to prevent the abuse of Personal Income Tax released by individual taxpayers and allowances to evade taxation.
“This second broad category is Tax Administration Reforms and this include provisions to support the FIRS ongoing reforms to fully automate and deploy technology to enhance collections and encourage taxpayer compliance and there are several measures in that category. But the third one is International Taxation Reforms.
“This provision empowers the FIRS to better assess non-resident companies to taxation by taxing profits derived from digital services rendered to Nigerian customers and it’s also designed to reduce the tax compliance burdens on non-resident taxpayers that are not required to register in Nigeria as companies.
“The third broad objective or the Finance Bill is financial reform to enhance tax equity. Most of these provisions that have been made are to enhance ongoing capital market reforms relating to securities lending transactions, real estate investment trusts, as well as the minimum taxation reductions that have been pioneered by the two previous Finance Bills.
“The fifth principle is Critical Public Financial Management and Reform. This reform was designed to strengthen the FIRS tax administration and coordination role in relation to the collection of taxes, vis-a-vis the responsibilities of relevant law enforcement agencies, such as the Nigerian Police or the EFCC and also to ensure and reinforce the supremacy of the fiscal rules and regulations as provided for by the Finance Controls and Management Act, as well as the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“Again, to emphasise also that we shied away from addressing any changes to the VAT regime or the current Stamp Duty regime because of the current ongoing litigations by some states in those two areas. So, nothing was proposed on this. When it becomes clearer, when the courts take decision on this matter or resolutions to the current challenge is attained…”.
