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Economy

Joint Tax Board targets 15-20% of IGR to GDP ratio in 2019 – Official

Joint Tax Board targets 15-20% of IGR to GDP ratio in 2019 – Official
By Mustapha Sumaila
Tax
Abuja, Jan. 6, 2019 (NAN) The Joint Tax Board (JTB) says it is targeting to attain Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of 15 to 20 per cent in 2019.
Mr Oseni Elamah, the Executive Secretary of the board, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
Elamah explained that the board was committed to and working with State Board of Internal Revenue Service (SBIRS) in the 36 states and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in achieving that.
He said that the board would consolidate on the IGR reform being carried out by the JTB in ensuring a robust revenue generation for the country.
According to him, the board is planning more awareness creation this year in ensuring an increase in voluntary compliance from tax payers.
Meanwhile, the JTB scribe also disclosed that the board is playing significant roles to ensuring that some State Revenue Services had autonomy and operate without any interference from any quarter.
He stated that States Internally Generated Revenue (SIGR) reform had been initiated in collaboration with Nigeria Governors Forum to address some of the challenges confronting some SBIRS.
Elamah noted that the board would continue to engage governors of selected states experiencing constrains in optimising their revenue administration capacity.
He explained that the initiative was aimed at espousing the need to adopt and implement certain key initiatives to drive reforms in the revenue administration framework for growth and sustainability.
The secretary disclosed that the board had reached advanced stages in the consolidation of the taxpayers’ database in the country.
According to him, the initiatives are expected to expand the existing tax payers base which implies more potential tax payers in the respective tax nets of the various SBIRS. (NAN)
MS/CHOM/MST
Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Polio immunisation: Agency targets 41,460 children in Hadejia LGA

Polio immunisation: Agency targets 41,460 children in Hadejia LGA
By Nabilu Balarabe
Polio
Hadejia (Jigawa), Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) The Jigawa Primary Health Care Development Agency (JPHCDA) on Monday said it targeted 41,460 children in Hadejia Local Government Area of the state for vaccination against poliomyelitis under the ongoing September round Outbreak Response.
The JPHCDA Manager in the area, Alhaji Yusuf Hakimi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia.
He said that the exercise, which began on Sept. 1, was going on smoothly in the 11 wards of the council and would be concluded on Sept. 4.
The manager noted that 41,106 children were vaccinated during the June round of the campaign, representing 98 per cent of the expected target.
He however dismissed speculations that the children were rejecting the vaccine.
“We have not recorded any case of rejection so far, and we are not expecting any because we had held several sensitisation and education with the parents, community and religious leaders.
“You will recall that during the June campaign, seven households rejected the vaccine for their 16 children, which we learnt was partly a protest against their inability to access the mosquito nets recently distributed in the area.
“But when we engaged them and district heads and religious leaders in talks, they were convinced and accepted the vaccine,” he said.
Hakimi commended government at all levels and other development partners for their roles in the smooth conduct of the exercise. (NAN)
NB/KOLE/MST
Edited by Remi Koleoso/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Science & Technology

Cybercrime: Mobile banking, target of cyber criminals

Cybercrime: Mobile banking, target of cyber criminals
NAN-H-31
Cybercrime
By Chiazo Ogbolu
Lagos, Oct. 26, 2017 (NAN) The Legal Attache, United States Consulate, Mr Rolland Avedician, says mobile banking is now target of cyber criminals.
Avedician made this known during a programme to commemorate October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month organised by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Consulate General Lagos on Thursday in Lagos.
The programme was in partnership with the International Centre for Leadership Development Nigeria (ICLDN).
“The World Wide Web (WWW) has allowed criminals to operate across borders and this is within the age gap of 19 to 29, a statistic from FBI and Interpol on West Africa.
“The criminals in West Africa are operating in an organised and well sophisticated way due to the fact that they take classes and discuss what the law enforcement agencies are doing to checkmate them.
“They are now looking for the most vulnerable targets and mobile banking is now the target of cyber criminals.
“The criminals in West Africa are becoming more knowledgeable with their mobile device to perpetuate the crime,” he said.
Mr Olatunji Igbalajobi, Chief Operating Officer, Cyber Code Ltd, said that cyber ethics should be the moral behaviour of internet usage.
Igbalajobi while speaking on the topic “Cyber Ethics”, urged the public to understand the moral implications of what they do online.
“There is need to understand the basic role of information security and the need not to share confidential information about family and business online.
“One needs to have a secure password, build cyber security resilience system, pay attention to critical vulnerabilities, avoid cyber stocking and virus propagating,” he said.
He listed some tips that would aid in improving cyber security safety in the workplace as to follow the department cyber security policies and procedures.
Others, he said, are to use department owned and approved hardware, software and removable media on department systems, be wary of social engineering and other threats carried out via email and social media.
He said that people should learn to properly mark, handle and disseminate classified information, and look for warning signs for insider threats and taking advantage of diplomatic security training centres.
He also advised that a good password should be one that was long, complex and temporary, adding that a different password should be used for each device. (NAN)
CAN/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Economy

Inflation: Expert says FG will meet 15.74 target

Inflation: Expert says FG will meet 15.74 target
NAN -H-28
Inflation
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, April 16, 2017 (NAN) An Economist, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, has expressed optimism that the Federal Government would meet its target of 15.74 inflation rate as contained in the 2017 budget.

Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

He said the government could meet this target if there was absence of any serious shock to the economy either from oil price or output.

He also expressed optimism that in the coming months Nigeria’s inflation rate would trend further downwards in the wake of favourable developments in the international oil market.

The don said: “The drop in headline inflation from 17.78 per cent in February to 17.26 per cent in March is a welcome development.

“Given the import-dependent nature of the economy, the appreciation of the Naira in recent times came as no surprise due to the CBN’s sustained intervention.

“The CBN’s sustained intervention in the forex market is moderating inflationary pressure from pass-through effect of high exchange rates.

“It was also expected that the high food and non-food prices recorded in the corresponding period of 2016 provided a base effect on the inflation rate for March 2017.

“Be that as it may, the key driving factors; namely electricity, fuel, housing and transportation services remain.

“This is understandable though as these challenges are fundamentally structural and will take some time to address.”

NAN recalls that a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed the country’s inflation rate dropped by 0.52 per cent in March to close at 17.26 per cent.

According to the report, the declined rate is the second recorded in two months with the first drop of 0.94 per cent which closed at 17.78 being witnessed in February.

”It represents the effects of stabilising prices in already high food and non-food prices as well as favourable base effects over 2016 prices.

“It is also indicative of early effects of a strengthened Naira in the foreign exchange market. (NAN)
LCN/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Jalingo Water Project targets additional 20m litres – Gov. Ishaku

NAN-H-26

Water

Zing(Taraba), April 15, 2017(NAN) The Jalingo Water Project will add 20 million litres of water to the current eight million litres serving the Tarba capital, Gov. Darius Ishaku said on Saturday in Zing.

Ishaku told Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) stakeholders in Zing and Yorro, that the water distribution network would also be expanded from the initial 46 kilometres to 150 kilometres, to cover the entire Jalingo and its environs.

He said that the expansion of the project was imperative considering the rapid increase in the population of Taraba that had served as a safe haven for people fleeing the attacks in the North-east.

“The population of Jalingo has rapidly increased from 50,000 to 300,000 people;  the city is still growing and may soon hit the half million mark.

“When we came on board, water harvested in Jalingo was coming from only two boreholes. That arrangement was meant for a small town, not a city or a state capital.

“We decided to go to River Lamurde and went down over six meters below, to create some channels and canals because the water there gushes throughout the year.

“So, we are building a mini dam and a treatment plant at the site to pump water to a hill top reservoir on the Jalingo rock. This will provide sustainable water for the next 50 years,” he said.

Ishaku said that the project, which was expected to be completed in December, would also provide water to the suburbs of Jalingo such as Kona, Taraba University, among others.

The governor said that 150 boreholes would also be sunk across the state, in addition to the 100 boreholes sunk in 2016.

He urged the managements of Zing and Yorro Local Governments to liaise with political office holders from the area to ensure that boreholes marked for them were actualised.

Ishaku said that he was in Zing to thank the people for massively voting for him in 2015.

“The best time to appreciate that support is now since I have won all the post-election suits instituted by my opponents,” he said.

Earlier, Messrs Anthony David and Anthony Yinnara, who spoke on behalf of Zing and Yorro delegates respectively, appealed to the governor to address the acute water shortage in the  areas.(NAN)

NB/ETS

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Edited by Ephraims Sheyin

Health

Polio: Daura LG targets 82,000 children

NAN-HG-1

Polio

Daura (Katsina) March 27, 2017 (NAN)The Daura Local Government of  Katsina State says it is targeting  82,000 children for immunisation against polio in a four-day exercise.

Alhaji Salish Haro, its Information Officer, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Daura that the exercise, which started on Saturday, March 25, would end on Tuesday, March 28.

He said that 270 personnel had been engaged for the exercise, and advised community and religious leaders to ensure that every child was immunised.

Alhaji Ahmed Murtala, the Director of Primary Health Care in the local government, who also spoke on the exercise,  said the council had received enough vaccines in addition to equipment that would retain the efficacy of the drugs.

“We have mapped out strategies to ensure that all areas are covered; nothing will be taken for granted,” he said.

Murtala expressed happiness that no case of  rejection had been reported, adding that the local government would soon begin routine immunisation exercise against measles, meningitis and other killer diseases (NAN)

BKD/OSA/ETS

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Edited by Shittu Obassa and Ephraims Sheyin