TECH DIGEST – Global technology companies such as Facebook, Google and others operating in Nigeria will soon be taxed by the Nigerian government as the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) is already working on a strategic document in that regard.

This was disclosed when the President of CITN, Mr. Adesina Adedayo and his team paid a courtesy call to the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja to present him the communiqué of the Institute’s 23rd annual tax conference in Kaduna recently.

“Arising from deliberations and a charge from his excellency, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, CITN is working on a strategy document which would be concluded shortly towards finding a way and means to tax global technology companies,” Mr. Adebayo told the Vice President.

He noted that taxing the informal sector has become a salient issue in Nigeria, even as the government is finding a way to address its dwindling revenue through improved tax collection methods.

According to him, the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan as well as the measures implemented was a right response to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and was largely instrumental to creating buffers for the government at all levels in withstanding the pressures and waves created during the peak period and the aftermath of COVID-19.

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TECH DIGEST – Governors of Kaduna and Ondo states, Nasir El-Rufai and Rotimi Akeredolu respectively, have defied the federal government’s directive suspending activities of Twitter in Nigeria.

Both governors, who are also members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), have made tweets through their verified accounts, daring the prosecution threats made by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Mr El-Rufai, at exactly 9:37 p.m. on Sunday, shared an opinion article titled “Based Nigeria: African country teaches US lesson in how to handle Big Tech tyranny”.

The article, authored by Nebojsa Malic, a Serbian-American journalist, justified the ban on Twitter, nudging the United States to learn from the move by the Nigerian government.

“Nigeria is a far more serious and ‘based’ country than the US, at least if President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to Twitter censorship, compared to that of Donald Trump’s,  is anything to go by,” Mr Malic wrote.

Governor Akeredolu, on the other hand, posted a statement reacting to the night attack that claimed several lives in Igangan community in Oyo State on Sunday.

He was reacting to the killings in his capacity as the Chairman of Southwest Governors Forum.

“We, on our part, are resolved to defend our people, their property, and all legitimate means of livelihood against both internal and external aggression. On this, there will be no compromise,” the statement read.

Government sources told PREMIUM TIMES that Governor El-Rufai has been outside the country for over a week. Although the source did not disclose his location, he said “the activities of Twitter is not banned in the country.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of Governor Akeredolu, Olabode Richard, said the microblogging platform was accessible to Nigerians on Sunday, adding that his principal did not make use of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) or other alternatives being explored by Nigerians.

He promised to give further response but was yet to reach out to our reporter as of the time of filing this report.

It however remains unclear if the order from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation will be effected on Messrs El-Rufai and Akeredolu.

Mr Malami had directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) in his office, “to swing into action and commence, in earnest, the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.”

“Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay, ” Mr Malami’s publicist, Umar Gwandu, had said on Saturday.

Recall that Information Minister Lai Mohammed, announced a ban on activities of the microblogging platform on Friday.

Mr Mohammed also disclosed that the federal government had ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”

Owing to the ban, Nigerians have been denied access to Twitter and can only access by bypassing domain restrictions through alternative media.

The suspension was sequel to Twitter’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial tweet about the civil war after some Nigerian users flagged it.

The government, in its response, accused the platform of bias against President Buhari and undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

Although the presidency says the ban is temporary and an attempt to curb fake news, human rights and foreign missions have berated the President Buhari-led administration for censorship, calling for a reversal of the suspension

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TECH DIGEST – Over one year after the 36 state governors agreed to implement the unified rate of N145 per linear metre fee for Right of Way (RoW) in the laying of fibre optic cables for broadband deployment, 29 states have refused to implement the agreement, a situation that is slowing down the pace of broadband deployment and penetration in the country.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who delivered the keynote address at a recent virtual stakeholders’ forum, organised by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said few days ago, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, gave his consent in writing, to begin the implementation of the agreement in the state.

The recent development would take the total number of states implementing the new RoW fee to seven, which includes: Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Ekiti, Kwara, Anambra and Imo.

Worried about the development, Pantami appealed to the 29 state governors to consider implementing the new rate as earlier agreed, to enable Nigeria meet its 70 per cent broadband penetration target by 2025, as enshrined in the 2020-2025 Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP).

According to the Minister, he had engaged with the members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), facilitated by its chairman, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on the 22nd of January 2020, and they agreed on the unified rate.

“At that meeting, I made a presentation on the benefits of broadband and requested the buy-in of the governors for the implementation of Broadband Plan and the Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria, and the governors unanimously agreed to adopt a maximum of N145/linear metre.

“Some of the governors have even waived this amount altogether. Many of the governors have begun full implementation and some have notified us in writing.

“We received reports that some states have introduced some extraneous charges that have increased the charges beyond the amount agreed. We are discussing with states involved in such cases, with a view to addressing the disparity,” Pantami said.

Before the January 2020 meeting there was disparity in the fees charged by state governors in their respective states, which range between N500 to N6,000 per linear metre.

Pantami’s keynote address, which focused on the importance of broadband in national development, also assessed the level of broadband penetration in the country and how to achieve the country’s broadband strategies, which seek to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria at a minimum of 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90 per cent of the population and penetration rate of 70 per cent by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.

The NNBP also targets the deployment of nationwide fibre coverage to reach all state capitals, and provision of a point of presence in at least 90 per cent of local government headquarters. It also targets tertiary educational institutions, major hospitals in each state and fibre connectivity at statutory rates of N145/meter for Right of Way (RoW).

President of ATCON, Ikechukwu Nnamani, in his opening remarks, said: “The development of a solid digital economy rests on the foundation of a well distributed broadband infrastructure and involves the convergence of all technology types and classes of service.

“To this end we have brought together key industry leaders cutting across the nine sub-group of ATCON’s membership to discuss and strategise with the leadership of the public sector on the best ways to achieve an accelerated implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan.”

Chairman of MTN Board of Directors, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, said the private sector must be actively engaged in achieving the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, because broadband is the driver of economic growth and development. He stressed the need for more telecoms infrastructure rollout by telecoms operators and the need for funding of broadband rollout in rural areas by government.

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