Press focuses on resumption of hearing by Supreme Court on old naira note deadline suit, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The resumption of hearing by the Supreme Court on the old naira note deadline suit between some state governments and the Federal Government dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that as the Supreme Court today (Wednesday) resumes hearing on the old naira note deadline suit between some state governments and the Federal Government, Nigerians, especially consumer and business groups as well as professional and trade unions are looking up to the apex court for a favourable judgment that they expect will ameliorate their suffering.
The Supreme Court had on February 8 restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline for swapping the old naira notes with new ones, but the Central Bank of Nigeria refused to shift the deadline.
The injunction was sequel to a suit filed by Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna state governments against the Attorney-General of the Federation on February 3.
Other states including Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Kano, Sokoto, Ogun and Cross River have also joined the suit as co-plaintiffs.
But the crisis between the governors and President Muhammadu Buhari over the naira redesign initiative worsened last Thursday when the President in his nationwide broadcast ignored the apex court order by extending the validity of the old N200 notes while insisting that the old N500 and N1,000 remained illegal.
Buhari further stated that the old N200 note would be legal tender till April 10, 2023, while urging Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the central bank.
Insisting on the order of the apex court, the governments of Kaduna, Ogun and Sokoto states, however, said the people in their states should continue to use the old naira notes as legal tender until the Supreme Court delivered its final pronouncement on the case pending before it.
According to him, it is required that all the parties in the case pursue their prayers to the court based on the interest of the general public and not partisan or sentimental interests.
He said, “Our hope is that all the parties concerned have the interest of the country at heart. We hope that the court looks at the matter very well and delivers its judgment without bias; that they will do what is right and what will be for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians.”
The newspaper says that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Monday, said Nigeria’s oil production had increased to 1.6 million barrels per day, a few millions short of the 1.8 million barrels per day quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, revealed this at a meeting of industry stakeholders, called to discuss the challenges of crude oil theft and losses affecting the oil and gas sector.
He also stated that the rectangular security approach, comprising NNPCL and partners, regulators, government security agencies and host communities, boosted by the adoption of technology, ensured the recovery of production from what it was in July 2022 to the current 1.67 million barrels per day.
Kyari, who was represented by the Head, Upstream Investment, NNPCL, Bala Wunti, at the event, which was chaired by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said the implementation of the Detect, Deter, Destroy and Recover had paid off.
Other strategies that were deployed include the establishment of the Central Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring and coordination, the launch of the Whistle-Blowers Portal and the Crude Oil Validation Portal, as well as the deployment of surveillance tools in the fight against oil theft and vandalism.
He said a key element of the collaboration had been the onboarding of the private security contractors from the host communities, which were hitherto isolated.
According to Kyari, the security contractors’ in-depth knowledge of the terrain and modus operandi of the criminals had led to massive discoveries of illegal connections and interception of vessels ferrying stolen crude oil.
Kyari said with the current sustained efforts, facilities that have been shut down have reopened, and injection of crude oil into major trunklines for evacuation to the terminals was being ramped up.
The Guardian reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns about Nigeria’s huge tax expenditure, estimated at four per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (DGP) or N6.8 trillion in 2021, saying the country could only achieve fiscal stability with aggressive reform of the tax system.
With the country occupying the third position among countries with the highest tax expenditure to GDP ratio, coming behind South Africa and Central Africa, the Fund said the country would need to curb inefficiency in its tax mobilisation to free up resources for funding of key growth sectors such as education and health.
Tax expenditure is the value forfeited through tax incentives such as allowances and holidays extended to economic agents during a fiscal cycle. Over the years, the Federal Government has come under scrutiny over its tax incentive management and transparency around the scheme.
It also noted a huge gap between the actual tax collected and its potential. It places the country at the bottom of the value added tax (VAT) collection efficiency ratio in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While the VAT collection efficiency ratios of countries like South Africa, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia are tending towards 70 per cent, Nigeria is about 20 per cent, the lowest in the region.
In its just-released country report, IMF says Nigeria would need to take a cue from countries that have achieved reasonable tax reforms to raise its fiscal stability quotient.
“Nigeria offers large amounts of tax incentives (tax expenditures) – including tax holidays, generous allowances, and exemptions – which has eroded the revenue base. According to the 2021 Tax Expenditure Statement (TES), the revenue foregone by tax expenditures was estimated at around four per cent of GDP (N6.8 trillion) in 2021, which made Nigeria one of the costliest tax expenditure countries in SSA,” the report states.
It also observed the impacts low tax rates have on the country’s revenue, saying: “Nigeria’s indirect taxes (VAT and excise) have the lowest rates –around half of the average of ECOWAS countries – with their narrow bases, which significantly undermine tax revenues.”
It expects Nigeria to understudy case studies of reforms executed by Rwanda, Uganda, Mauritania and The Gambia, which have helped the countries to address revenue shocks and achieve modest stability in the public finances.
The newspaper says The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said a total of 146,913 domestic and international observers will be deployed for the 2023 general elections.
The Commission, therefore, warned observers against interfering in the elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the Commission’s briefing for observers in Abuja, yesterday. According to the INEC boss, the number of observers is the largest in the country’s history.
He said the Commission accredited 196 national and domestic organisations that deployed 144,800 observers and 33 international organisations that deployed 2,113 observers.
Yakubu, however, urged the observers to abide by the laws of Nigeria while discharging their duties on election day.
He said: “I wish to remind observers that there is a code of conduct for election observation. You are by definition observers. Do not interfere with the process or show partisanship.
“In addition, international observers must be guided by the fact that the election is conducted by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose sovereignty must be respected. I urge you all to keep to the rules.”
Yakubu also noted that the observations and recommendations from election observers over the years have helped to improve the country’s electoral process.
Speaking at the programme, the Regional Director, Africa, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Clara Cole, said election observations provide improvements for election, pleading with both national and domestic observers to abide by the rules of INEC.
GIK/APA