Governors, JTB Target 200% Aggregate Tax Revenue

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The 36 State Governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have pledged support for the successful implementation of the National Data Initiative aimed at expanding the country’s tax net to at least 90 per cent of all eligible taxable persons and increase the country’s aggregate tax revenue by up to 200 per cent.

The resolution was contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the second NGF’s meeting of the year 2022, where the Governors deliberated on several matters of national importance, which was chaired by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State.

During the meeting, the Governors received a presentation from the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Service (FIRS), Mr Muhammad Nami on the national Data for Tax Initiative.

According to Nami who doubles as and Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB), the Data for Tax (D4T) initiative envisages an ecosystem where financial and non-financial data on all individuals and economic transactions will be collated into a central National Tax Data Bank with the National Identification Number (NIN) as the primary unifying code.

In the bid to achieve the feat, the Governors pledged their support for the project which is aimed at expanding the country’s tax net to at least 90 per cent of all eligible taxable persons and committed to collaborating with the JTB to increase the country’s aggregate tax revenue by up to 200 per cent as envisaged.

The Forum also received a presentation on the status of the country’s digital identification programme from Engr Aliyu Aziz, Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on the ongoing.

To strengthen the national enrollment exercise which has so far seen the issuance of over 74 million national identification numbers (NIN) to Nigerians across the country, Governors pledged to support the programme through a string of measures, including support for sensitisation activities, integration of NIN in state services and collaboration with telecoms providers to improve network infrastructure for sustained identity registration and authentication.

The Governors also re-echoed the need to complete the harmonization and integration of databases, to reduce the carriage of multiple identifications (IDs) by citizens noting that being able to uniquely identify persons is extremely important for social security and cross-state border management.

According to the communiqué, NIMC is to liaise with State Governments through its various State Coordinators in addition to working with the NGF Secretariat.

The National Convener of the UN Food Systems and Permanent Secretary of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Olusola Idowu, delivered a presentation on the National Pathway to Food Systems Transformation.

The role of Governors in the plan is to prioritise the establishment of farm settlement estates for groups of smallholder producers, including women and youths, to increase the supply of farm inputs, the use of machinery, access to extension services, and market access.

The Forum affirmed its commitment to the ideals of the programme which many states are already pursuing and committed to working with the Federal Government to expand the development of these settlements across the country.

Mr Alex Okoh, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), briefed the State Governors on the proposed sale of five power plants under the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC). The presentation was part of the consultative process with State governments who are shareholders of the plants.

A programme update on NG-CARES was delivered by the NGF Secretariat’s Programme Manager, Mrs Firo Elhassan Kaka, on the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme.

All 36 States of the federation have already received letters of eligibility for the programme, and all results achieved by the States with effect from June 2020 are eligible for verification as prior results. These will be assessed for reimbursement at the next verification exercise.

The NGF Secretariat’s Health Adviser, Dr Ahmad Abdulwahab also delivered an update on the country’s health security interventions, particularly on the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project (COPREP) and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHPF).

Members also discussed the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lassa Fever outbreak, the need to improve the quality of Polio campaigns, as well as the setup of State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance Services (SEMSA) with accredited health facilities and requisite personnel.

From the 23rd – 25th February 2022, State Governors will be joined by a delegation from Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, with the aim of deepening the government’s engagement on routine immunisation, health system strengthening and COVID-19 vaccination in the country.

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