Amid the ongoing debate surrounding the Tax Reform Bill 2024, a fact-check by PRNigeria has confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, previously opposed a proposal to increase Value-Added Tax (VAT) during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Recent social media posts have circulated screenshots alleging Tinubu and Oyedele were vocal critics of the Buhari administration’s VAT hike plans. One of the posts features a bold caption: “Tinubu opposes the Buhari administration’s plan to increase VAT.” The resurgence of these claims comes as the Tax Reform Bill 2024, which proposes increasing VAT from 7.5% to 15% by 2030, sparks public scrutiny.

Tinubu’s Opposition in 2019

During his 67th birthday colloquium on March 28, 2019, held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Tinubu, then the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), publicly opposed the proposed VAT hike. He stated, “An increase in VAT will reduce the purchasing power of Nigerian consumers and is capable of increasing hardship in the country.” Tinubu urged the then Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who chaired the National Economic Council (NEC), to reconsider the proposal.

Mainstream media outlets widely reported Tinubu’s remarks, with headlines emphasizing his resistance to the VAT hike, such as “Tinubu Kicks Against Proposed Increase in VAT.”

Oyedele’s Opposition on Social Media

Taiwo Oyedele, a tax expert and then a private sector professional, also opposed the proposed VAT increase. In a series of tweets, he criticized the plan, stating that it was poorly timed and inconsistent with Nigeria’s economic realities. He warned that an increase without mechanisms like a registration threshold and the zero-rating of basic goods would disproportionately burden the poor and small businesses.

Oyedele specifically criticized the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) under Babatunde Fowler, which had suggested raising VAT from 5% to between 7.25% and 8.75%. His comments aligned with principles outlined in the 2017 National Tax Policy, which aimed to protect vulnerable populations.

The Current Debate

The resurfaced criticisms have reignited discussions about fiscal policies and alleged inconsistencies in President Tinubu’s approach to tax reforms. The Tax Reform Bill 2024, currently at its second reading in the National Assembly, proposes a phased VAT increase and other fiscal adjustments. While Oyedele, now Chairman of the Tax Reform Committee, was initially quoted as supporting a 10% VAT hike, he later denied such plans, stating that the Federal Government has no intention of increasing VAT.

PRNigeria’s Verdict

Following its investigation, PRNigeria confirmed that both Tinubu and Oyedele opposed the VAT hike during Buhari’s administration. The fact-check involved reverse image searches and reviews of media reports, which corroborated the claims.

Conclusion: The assertion that Tinubu and Oyedele opposed the VAT increase during Buhari’s tenure is accurate. Their positions, widely reported at the time, were consistent with their advocacy for policies that protect the poor and promote economic stability.

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TECHDIGEST – The president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and former vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo have joined 30 million others users on Meta’s new platform, ‘Threads’.

The Meta’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, noted that the company is setting its sight on one billion users soon. Threads, which launched on Thursday in over 100 countries now has 30 million users according to Zuckerberg.

He stated that in the first two hours of launching the app had two million sign-ups, which increased to five million in the first four hours.

Zuckerberg noted that the app has 10 million sign ups in seven hours. He revealed this on the app. At about 4 pm Nigerian time, he typed, “Wow, 30 million sign-ups as of this morning. Feels like the beginning of something special, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead to build out the app.”

According to reports, it took Google+ 16 days, ChatGPT 40 days, Clubhouse 347 days, Instagram 355 days, Twitter 780 days, and Facebook 852 days to hit 10 million users.

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Threads is launching on the back of complaints against Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has come under a lot of criticism since the billionaire acquired it. Recently, the app announced a view limit for tweets.

When a user asked if Threads would become bigger than Twitter, Zuckerberg replied, “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conservations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”

According to a report by The TechDigest, Threads might get monetise once it crosses one billion users.

The report quoted Zuckerberg, “Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it to a clear path to one billion people, and only then think about monetisation at that point.”

Twitter currently has about 450 million users. Many public figures and celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, and Shakira, as well as media outlets including The Washington Post and The Economist, have joined the app.

Threads is yet to be released in Europe because of concerns over data privacy. Meta has come under strong criticism in Europe, for its handling of personal data, and it could take a while before it launches in the region.

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TECHDIGEST – The Vice President Professor of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has unveiled Africa’s Humanoid Robot ‘Omeife’ built by Uniccon Group, which is human-like and skilled in language, movement, navigation, and behavioural intelligence using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer vision capabilities.

Speaking during the unveiling in Abuja, Prof Osinbajo, who was represented by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), who also assigned Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, to unveil on his behalf, announced that Federal Government will soon come up with regulatory Instruments that will make responsible technology for Nigerians to benefit from.

He stated that the innovation signifies a dawn in the nation’s journey to becoming one of the digitally visible countries in the world.

“It is so dear to us that we are living in an exciting time of technological advancement, where the science of yesterday is becoming a reality in products and services”.

“We are reaching a point where a Robot will create a Robot, Algorithm will create Algorithm, a world without scarcity of resources where every human on earth has access to basic needs like enough food, clean water and so on, with the kind of technology like Omeife, Nigeria can reach that point.

“Omeife is behaving like human, but the target is the super intelligence, whereby the Artificial Intelligence becomes more intelligent than the human being,” the VP said.

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He added that, “We have to go with what the new technology (AI) brought, like not going to farms because Robots can do that, not driving a car which Robot can do, creating furniture, road constructions which all Robots can do effectively. With AI you can cure terminal diseases, we can reverse aging which are all part of the futuristic things that are talking about singularity.”

While emphasising government’s commitment to turn things around technologically, the VP described this as a “technology is a doubled aged sword. What we need to do as a government is to support our citizens by ensuring that they are digitally visible, we need to get data available for AI to be used to make a decision and also to connect the unconnected”.

In achieving this, he said, the present administration has redesigned the scope of the Communications Ministry to Communications and Digital Economy, where several plans are put in place like Broadband plan which is targeted at connecting the unconnected to make sure every Nigerian is digitally visible.

He affirmed the support of the Federal Government for the domestication of the technology urging the tech community to find measures that would ensure that Artificial Intelligence systems are built according to policies, regulations, laws and also domesticate such innovation in line with the Nigerian culture.

On his part Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) lauded the effort and foresight of Unicorn Group for the unprecedented achievement.

He said, “We are so excited today, because most of our games (the Robots) are not African, seeing Omeife looking like African gives me a lot of courage that Nigeria is at verge of attaining greatness”.

The Minister said this and many other initiatives will in no small measure assist the country in building technology locally and to promote local cultures and values.

He also announced that government is working on the National Data Strategy which will also help to make data available for everyone, because AI is all about Data. 

He pledges government readiness to work with Unicorn Group to commercialise the technology.

It could be recalled that the Minister introduced Omeife for the first time at GITEX in Dubai while complimenting the Uniccon Group’s dedication to playing a significant role in encouraging innovation in Africa.

Omeife, a 6 feet tall Multilingual robot has the ability to speak 8 different languages including Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, French, Arabic, Kiswahili, Pidgin, Wazobia Afrikaans and the English language.

The Robot also has terrain intelligence, knowing the ground and having stability on the floor, which helps it navigate on non-flat surfaces and maintain good balance. It also has GPS for location and state-management for knowing whether the system is standing, walking, talking and so on as well as Advanced Gestures. It expresses while talking, gives hand illustrations, smiles and makes other bodily gestures.

It has the ability to understand shape and how to hold things with its hand. Conversation wise, it has real time understanding, can actively listen and focus on a specific conversation thread as it’s happening.

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TECHDIGEST – Nigeria is regarded as Africa’s largest ICT market with 82 per cent of the continent’s telecoms subscribers and 29 per cent of internet usage.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also projected to be the fastest growing region with a compound annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent and a subscriber enrolment of over 167 million in the next five years. Nigeria is expected to account for over 55 per cent of this.

The NCC estimates that the country has about 76 million subscriptions on broadband which accounts for 40 per cent penetration and 195.4 million telecom subscribers as of December 2021.

The government of Nigeria recognizes ICT as the enabler for developing other critical sectors including education, healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing. In its drive to diversify the economy from oil and gas, the federal government is encouraging partnerships between local ICT companies and foreign investors. To promote these partnerships and grow an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the technology sector, the country has supported creating government- or private-sector led incubator hubs, youth innovation programs, and science technology parks.

Abuja Technology Village, which serves as an example, received government support to become a destination for research, incubation, development, and commercialization of ICT.

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Construction has begun at the site, and the government has granted Special Economic Zone status to Abuja Technology Village and other hubs to enable duty-free shipments and elimination of labour issues as a fiscal incentive to investors and entrepreneurs.

Speaking at a two-day National Conference on Non-oil Export with the theme, ‘Export for Survival: Optimising Nigeria’s Non-oil Export Potential’, organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) recently, Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said “some of the country’s best stories are in the tech sector, with companies valued over $1billion each and all of these between two recessions.”

He said the tech sector is growing so well because there is a very large hand of the regulator upon it and added that “the country must seek to achieve a situation where regulators see themselves as facilitators of business.”

“This has been the focus of the ministry of Industry Trade and Investment especially with the MSME clinics where we try to show that the very best approach is for regulators to see themselves as those that must promote business,” the Vice President said.

Osinbajo said the government’s job is to enable businesses especially with the regulatory policies.

“The core mandate of the Presidential enabling business environment council found expression in the master action plan of 7.0 on the ease of doing business and in the way to consolidate and removal of regulatory constraints especially around agro-export and to drive the electronic filing of taxes and publication of insolvency regulation of companies and Allied matters Act 2020.

The 7.0.agro export plan prioritizes trade facilitation reforms to minimize cross border trade and transport logistics and for Nigerian companies to do better and to be more compliant with the AFCTA export compliance regulations,” he said.

“The plan for reduction of cargo clearance time has also begun with the facilitation of imports and exports with the introduction of installation of scanners supported also by the port community portal. One of the major problems and complaints that we have is that there is always physical inspection of goods as they come, but with the scanners we hope physical inspection will be greatly reduced.

“We have continued to meet the challenges facing us head-on and there are so many challenges, the government’s commitment to infrastructural development and also looking for ways of funding the exports in trade and investment is one commitment that the government has taken very seriously,” he said.

The Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, observed that report from Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies (PIA) revealed a significant growth in export proceeds in the last 5 years 2017-2021 from $1.2 billion to $3.4 billion as against an annual average of $22 billion food importation alone into the country. “To close this gap, concerted efforts are required from all practitioners in the non-oil export value chain,” he said.

Also speaking on the theme “Sustainable Market Access for Nigerian Non-oil Export,” Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said the negative impact on Nigeria’s external reserve has exerted unprecedented pressure on Naira and weakened Nigeria’s ability to finance its import and undermine its Balance of Payment position.

He cited increased poverty and livelihood security difficulties and unemployment as part of the aftermath of these negative indices.

In order to build a resilient economy, Economic Diversification and digitization especially export diversification is key.

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TECHDIGEST – E-commerce platforms like Jumia and fintech companies have brought a new dynamic to everyday living in Northern Nigeria.

Individuals, households, small enterprises, and huge corporations are increasingly turning to the internet for a variety of transactions.

More importantly, Jumia and other partners’ dedication to open the digital space in the northern states has resulted in increased awareness and knowledge of the enormous capabilities and benefits of e-commerce.

E-commerce platforms, in particular, have accelerated digitisation in the north by eliminating barriers to entry such as skepticism, lack of confidence, and concerns about data security breaches, among others.

Nano Strix, a 3PL logistics company, based in Abuja and several FMCG companies are among small and large corporations leveraging e-commerce to create and increase opportunities in the northern part of Nigeria and elsewhere. Through its partnership with Jumia launched in 2015, the company provides third-party logistics services and is the first logistics hub for Jumia in Northern Nigeria.

According to Nano Strix CEO Mohammed Maikudi, as the pioneer e-Commerce platform in Northern Nigeria, the company has been able to push over from the initial low user adoption occasioned by people’s lack of trust and fear of the safety of putting their debit cards online.

“Over time, Jumia has built a name for itself where we now see a more positive trajectory in the industry. People are now more trusting of the services Jumia offers, putting their credit cards or debit cards online ordering items without the fear of being stuck with something they don’t like or expect,” he said.

Maikudi further enthused, “Our package volumes have started to increase over time, allowing us to employ more staff, provide more benefits to our staff and bring them into the fold. For example, our volume has increased to a point where we allow staff to bring into our 3PL fleet, so everyone benefits.”

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Furthermore, Jumia’s partnership with Unilever for last-mile logistics is accelerating e-commerce adoption in Northern Nigeria.

The strategic partnership enables Unilever to improve turnaround time for consumers in Northern Nigeria’s vast geographic area, allowing them to obtain items more quickly.

The consumer goods company benefits from Jumia’s extensive logistics network by optimizing network scale, delivery speed, and seamless customer experience.

Commenting on the partnership, Jeremiah Aloko, Unilever Nigeria Logistics Manager, Supply Chain Operations, said the strategic partnership with Jumia Nigeria has significantly impacted top tier services in Northern Nigeria. During the presentation of Unilever Nigeria’s Best Logistics Partner award to Jumia, he said, “We are impressed with Jumia’s high quality of work in the context of an extremely challenging logistics environment in Africa.”

As e-commerce grows in popularity in Nigerian cities, Jumia and others are fostering many small businesses and logistics companies to satisfy the increasing demands of sellers and buyers. In some Northern Nigerian cities like Kaduna, Kano, and Plateau, it is now common to see delivery vans and bikes delivering items to customers.

Fortune Arinze, a Jumia partner and CEO of Brand Shop Prints, an Abuja-based ICT firm, applauded the impact of Jumia pick-up station on business growth.

He acknowledged that the partnership has helped maintain cash inflow during printing business downtime and supported business expansion through ownership of bikes that deliver food on the Jumia platform.

“As an entrepreneur, the major aim is to make more revenue, and that’s what having a pick-up station in our office space does for me. The advantage we get from this pick-up station is constant turnover, which is what every business needs because, with our kind of business, it’s not every day that we receive new jobs or contracts from clients, but the Jumia pick-up station is a steady source of income. People pick up items every day, and we also deliver food every day. Jumia pays for each item picked up from the station,” he said.

The disruption caused by COVID-19 emphasizes the importance of e-commerce adoption in the north. Logistics gaps like transportation and warehousing, as well as the lack of physical stalls to sell during the lockdowns, would have spelt doom for small scale farmers if not for e-commerce platforms. While the lockdown was in effect, their produce, particularly groceries and other perishables, would not have made it to the public.

Source : Tech economy.ng

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TECHDIGEST – Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki to kick-off the construction of the Edo Tech Park (ETP), a mini-city for software engineers and developers.

The park is being developed in Benin by Decagon, one of Africa’s leading engineering companies, in partnership with the Edo State Government’s employment initiative – EdoJobs.

With its promise of convenience, serenity, and collaboration, the park will boost business activities in the state, while also providing the perfect environment for tech talent productivity and technological innovation.

It is designed to be an exciting live, work, and play project with a first phase that spans over 20,000 square metres.

The park will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure including high-speed internet via fibre-optic connectivity provided by MainOne in collaboration with Facebook, with co-working spaces, good road connections, uninterrupted electricity, and a great support system for techies.

Osinbajo noted that “What Decagon and the state are doing also is 100 percent aligned with our vision to create more opportunities for Nigerian youths.

“It complements the work we are doing with African Development Bank in setting up the i-DICE fund to invest in Digital and Creative Enterprises.”

Similarly, Obaseki noted that the park will improve foreign exchange inflow, help the Naira, and also solve the problem of youth unemployment.

“This would also lead to more startups springing up, which will create exponential effects in terms of job creation in Edo State,” the governor said.

It will also be a major catalyst for accelerating the inflow of strategic local and foreign investments.

While speaking, the founder of Decagon, Chika Nwobi said, “In the next five years, the park will host 15,000 software engineers, mostly graduates of Decagon’s acclaimed software engineering and leadership training program who we retain to work for companies in the USA and Europe from Benin City.”

Decagon has trained and graduated over 550 software engineers now working for international companies like Indeed (Austin, Texas), Tribl (Atlanta) and Return Queen (New York), as well as Nigerian companies like Sterling, Carbon, Kobo360, RenMoney, MaxNG, and many others.

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