By Wisdom Acka

All illegal mechanics and others operating around the popular Apo mechanic village have given issued a 7-day ultimatum to vacate and make way for unhindered construction.
This is as the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) finalises arrangements to commence large scale city cleaning and clearing of the Apo road corridor, also known as the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX).

Chairman of the newly constituted FCT Ministerial Task Force on City Sanitation, Ikharo Attah handed this ultimatum during stakeholders’ meeting with owners of businesses around the area yesterday.

According to him, the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello was displeased with the continued defacing of the environment along that road corridor and ordered immediate and strict restoration of the area in line with the Abuja Master.

Attah further explained that the ultimatum was borne out of the administration’s empathy for the traders, give them time to remove their valuables and avoid immediate cleaning exercise that could cause colossal loss to them.

We gathered that the first phase of the sanitation exercise which will reclaim all the spots from Apo round-about to the popular junction known as NEPA junction would commence next Monday after expiration of the ultimatum. The second phase of the aggressive sanitation will begin from the NEPA junction to APO mechanic village, where illegal businesses have taken over great portions of the road, making it difficult for contractors to complete their work.

Attah said: “This stakeholders meeting was to enable us interface with stakeholders who engage in one form of business or the other along the Apo road corridors, also known as Outer Southern Express way ( OSEX).

“The Minister has given us a directive to reclaim all the road corridors, to allow contractors complete their jobs, and also allow the Abuja Environmental Protection Board officers beautify the place in accordance with Abuja master plan.

“We’ve given the affected people seven days ultimatum, because we want to put up a human face in carrying out the exercise. The Minister had wanted us to start immediately due to his desire to complete all the on going projects there as a legacy he would leave behind for the residents of the nation’s capital.

Also speaking, Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Baba Shehu Lawan who organised the stakeholders’ meeting noted that the Minister had selected seasoned professionals who formed an effective squad for the exercise.

Lawan also warned that at the expiration of the ultimatum, the Task Force team would move to the area, and whoever refuses to vacate the place should not blame the administration.

He added that abandoned vehicles, furniture and every other things left on the road corridors will be removed and seized.

Below: Pictures from the stakeholders’ meeting yesterday. Speaking with a microphone is the taskforce chair., Comrade Ikharo Attah.

A winner has emerged in the May 2020 edition of the “Help the Smart worker” competition, organized by political pressure group, the Princewill’s Political Associates (PPA) specifically for entrepreneurs, youths and residents of Rivers State who are engaged in small, micro and medium business ventures and all forms of smart work in the state. The monthly prize is a cash grant of N150,000.00.

The contest which is a brainchild of the PPA leader, Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill is also intended to encourage residents of the state to venture into productive economic activities which in turn will lead to job creation, prosperity and economic development in the state. You will recall the winner of the April edition was a barbing salon owner who was seeking to open a second shop.

Ms. Naomi Duke whose business proposal was targeted on the expansion of her Interior Decoration/Household makeover business was selected as the most viable by the panel of judges. Ms. Duke, who is the first female winner, is also a grassroots mobilizer and a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers state. She has been running her interior design company DASHIB Designs for slightly more than six years. Her proposal was chosen ahead of two other proposals, one on expansion of mini restaurant and the other, a fresh fruit /vegetable businesses in a keenly contested competition which had over one thousand contestants, was very smart, very concise, very detailed on impact and limited itself to the available budget plan.

In her remarks after the live online announcement as the winner of the contest, Ms. Naomi Duke thanked the Princewill Political Associates for the gesture which she described as a pleasant surprise and a dream come true owing to the fact that it had been her heart’s desire to try to increase the capacity and efficiency of her business this year. She called on other entrepreneurs and youths especially women in business and in politics to take advantage of this platform to increase and improve their productivity instead of solely relying on political handouts. She further wished the participants of the June 2020 edition, good luck.

Concluding her remarks, Ms. Duke, prayed God Almighty to reward the Leader of the Princewill’s Political Associates – Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill, abundantly for his love for his people, his state and the country at large.

Speaking on behalf of Princewill’s Political Associates, Mr. Emmanuel Dagogo congratulated Ms. Duke and advised her on the need to be a good ambassador for other women politicians in business by putting the prize money into judicious use. He also called on the general public to stay safe and adhere to medical advice to curtail the spread of Covid 19 which is currently on the rise in the state.

The management of Federal Inland Revenue Services has reiterated that its chairman, Muhammad Nami has no intention of entrenching nepotism and tribalism in FIRS.

This is in reaction to a malicious publications in some media outfits such as Premium Times and PUNCH Newspaper dated 18th May, 2020, entitled “FIRS Chair ignores Buhari’s directive, retires nine directors”,

The FIRS Management further frowns at the reprehensible, ignominious and unprofessional antics of a few misguided people who are being used to drag the noble journalism profession into disrepute by the unprincipled resort to sensationalism at the expense of hard facts.

Excerpt is the full text of the press release:

The attention of the FIRS Management has been drawn to malicious publications in some no less reputable media outfits such as Premium Times and PUNCH Newspaper dated 18th May, 2020, entitled “FIRS Chair ignores Buhari’s directive, retires nine directors”, which blatantly twisted facts to create the impression that nepotism and tribalism are being entrenched in FIRS. Management also notes with satisfaction subsequent spirited and well intentioned rejoinders by friends and well-wishers of the FIRS in a bid to state the true perspective of the matters arising from the said invidious publication.

2. Following wide consultations, the FIRS Management wishes to bring to the attention of the general public that the present Management of FIRS led by Mr. Muhammad Nami has no intention of (and is not) entrenching nepotism and tribalism in FIRS. The Management therefore wishes to state categorically that those making such insinuations are doing so from the figment of their imagination.

3. The main issues mischievously alleged in the publication are summarized as follows:
1. That Muhammad Nami unlawfully retired nine Directors to pave way for his allies by relying on old Civil Service Rule which was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari via a circular No SH/COS/100/A/1462 dated 17th June, 2016 issued by the then Head of Service, and that the immediate past Chairman of FIRS upheld the order as no Director was retired during his administration on the basis of the old rule.

2. That Muhammad Nami assumed office in November 2019

3. That the Service relied on Section 10.1a (iii) of the FIRS Human Resources Policies and Processes (HRPP) to retire the Directors while ignoring Section 1.8.2 of the same HRPP which deals with the effects of circulars and other amendments to HRPP.

4. That after the retirement of the Directors, the Executive Chairman appointed Four (4) new Directors, which has caused disquiet among Senior Staff who were sidelined for the Contract staff.

5. The publication asked “where is transparency, accountability, integrity and Federal Character in these appointments?”

4. For the purpose of clarity and avoidance of any doubt, Management wishes to put the record straight as follows:

4.1 Muhammed Nami did not unlawfully retire nine Directors to pave way for his allies. In the first place, the retirement of the Directors was done in accordance with the rules and followed due process as it was approved by the Board.
Secondly, on the issue of using old Civil Service Rule at the expense of the new rule, it must be noted that FIRS (the Service), was established pursuant to FIRS (Establishment) Act 2007, as a Public Service and not a Civil Service. There is a lot of difference between Civil Service and Public Service. Civil Service covers Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government without autonomous Status, while Public Service includes among others FIRS, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), with autonomous status and functional Board of Directors. As such the circular couldn’t have been binding on the Service.
4.2 The Service did not disobey the new regulation suspending the eight (8) year tenure rule. Of course, it is easy to see that the previous management did not retire Directors because there was no Board in place, and so it operated solely thereby determined the rules to implement and those to disobey with a huge media support from the likes of the media organisations under reference.
4.3 The FIRS Human Resources Policies and Processes (HRPP) in its Chapter 10 adequately captures all retirement matters that are peculiar to the Service, and which all staff signed and promised to abide by at the point of entering into the Service. By virtue of the provision of S.1.8.3 of the FIRS HRPP, it is only where any matter is not provided for or covered by the HRPP that recourse is made to the provisions of the Public Service Rules (PSR). And since there is no lacuna therein, there is no need to rely on the Head of Service Circular on 8 year Tenure Suspension.
4.4 It should also be noted that the provision of S.1.8.2 refered to in the publication relates only to the circulars, directives, notices, orders and other documents issued by the Board and Management of the Service and not from the Head of Service. This Section also gives powers to the Board to periodically amend the HRPP.
4.5 It is also not correct that after the retirement of the Directors, the Executive Chairman employed the Four (4) contract Directors without advertisement. The correct and verifiable position is that Nine (9) Directors were retired out of which six (6) were retained as Acting Coordinating Directors and Special Assistants. The Four (4) contract Directors mentioned in the mischievous publications are not all Nupes as alleged. Only two of them are from Niger State while one of the other two is from Kaduna and the other is from Bauchi. As contract staff, these Directors were engaged on the basis of the provisions of S.2.22 of HRPP for a period of 2 years which did not violate any rule. To further prove wrong the allegation of tribalism, the current Management team is made up of the Executive Chairman, two members from the North East and North West respectively, another two from the South West and the last two from the South East against the highly biased one operated previously.
4.6 Therefore the present Management team with members from different Regions approved by the Board as well as the efforts made to return the core functions of the Service to the staff instead of allowing the consultants to continue to perform such functions are all signs of Transparency, Accountability, Integrity and adherence to Federal Character principle.

The new Management also retained 14 out of the 24 Directorate Contract Officers inherited from the immediate past administration which was obviously lopsided in favour of the geopolitical region of the former Chairman. Please note that out of the 24 Contract Directorate Staff engaged by the immediate past administration, 17 of them were from the same geopolitical zone with the former chairman, while out of the 13 Permanent Directorate Staff engaged recklessly and illegally by the same management, 8 of them were from former Chairman’s geopolitical Zone. Also, out of the 14 Contract Directorate Staff retained, 7 of them are from the same geopolitical zone with the former chairman.

5. Following from the above, the important questions the Management wishes to ask those who have allowed themselves to be used for the wrong reasons are as follows; where were they:
• When the above stated lopsided appointments took place in FIRS (2015 – 2019 )
• When majority of the staff of FIRS were rendered redundant because their core tax functions were outsourced to mostly inexperienced consultants?
• When the immediate past administration of the Service operated without a Board or properly constituted Management Team, and even elevated a contract staff to exalted positions of Special Adviser, Coordinating Director, and later as Acting Chairman?
• When the immediate past administration failed to properly constitute a management team, and operated with only two Coordinating Directors (Biodun Aina and Cyriacus Ekechi) against the (6) allowed by the HRPP of the Service?
• When very experienced staff of the Service’s operations, tax audit, and investigation departments were posted out to non – existing Training Schools?

6.​The general public, the diligent tax compliant companies and other organisations are therefore advised to ignore and treat such publications as a mark of the entrenched yellow journalism in the country’s media practice. The Management therefore frowns at the reprehensible, ignominious and unprofessional antics of a few misguided people who are being used to drag the noble journalism profession into disrepute by the unprincipled resort to sensationalism at the expense of hard facts.

7. Finallyy, the Management wishes to caution the media killjoys not to drag this reputable and professional Institution into uncharitable tribal politics. To be sure, the core mandate of the Service is to assess, collect and account for Tax Revenue in the country for the common good of its citizenry and the Nation at large.