FCT Ground Rent: Wike Gives Final Warning To Defaulters

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike has given a final warning to defaulters of ground rent payments in the FCT, insisting that something would happen soon to them. Wike gave the warning when the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its President, Dr Chris Isiguzo visited him in Abuja. The minister said that “something will surely happen” contrary to the erroneous assumption that the ground rent directive was an empty threat. The FCT Administration in September published land titles of individuals, organisations, and agencies owing ground rent. In the publication, the FCTA reminded allottees of lands within FCT of their obligations as stipulated in the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to pay in advance without demand from Jan. 1 of each year. The FCTA had warned that a breach or failure to comply with any or all of the terms stated in the Rights of Occupancy shall be liable to the revocation of the title. The administration, therefore, advised all allottees, property owners, and beneficiaries of the sale of Federal Government Houses in the FCT to settle their outstanding ground rents or lose their titles. Wike assured the defaulters that he would match his words with action at the end of the grace period by revoking such plots. “The law has been there before I came. The only problem is applying the law. The Minister of State and I have the capacity and political will to do what is right. “You know Nigerians are funny, believing that nothing will happen. Something will happen. We can’t continue that way; we can’t. “We have given defaulters a final notice to go and pay and they said it is initial “gra-gra” (false bravery) but something will happen. “By the time we give the final notice, and you don’t pay, the law will be applied,” he said. He added that FCTA was able to save significant Internally Generated Revenue since the removal of the Administration from the Treasury Single Account, adding that the era of abandoned projects in the FCT was over. He explained that some of the hash decisions being taken by the FCTA was for the good of all in the long run, adding that the government would step on toes in the efforts to right the wrongs in the FCT. The minister pledged continued support to the media as critical partners in the development space. Earlier, Isiguzo commended Wike for his transformational potentials as exemplified in Rivers State when he was the governor. He also commended the minister for his media-friendly disposition and pledged the NUJ’s support through free and responsible journalism. He appealed to the minister to support the union’s capacity building programme, its forthcoming National Media Conference, and provide a plot of land for the construction of a Media Village in Abuja. The procedure for the payment of the ground rent is e-payment through the REMITA portal to generate a REMITA Retrieval Reference (RRR). Affected persons are expected to log onto the REMITA portal https://remita.net and click on “Pay TSA & States, then select Federal Capital Territory Administration. After that, select Abuja, Geographic Information Systems and choose the revenue head to be paid which in this case is FCC Ground Rent. Fill the required information, submit, and print the RRR slip, after which payment can be made in any commercial bank. 

Regularise your tax positions or face sanctions, FIRS warns shippers

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has mandated all shipping companies operating in Nigeria’s territorial waters to regularize their outstanding tax return before 31st December 2023. The service disclosed this in a public statement made available to the public and signed by its Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami. FIRS noted the order is the sequel to two previous seculars of June and December 2021 wherein it provided the basis of taxation of international shipping lines and also called on them to regularize their tax affairs with the service within three months. The circular also stated that the FIRS had observed that many international shipping lines operating in the country had not been complying with the nation’s extant tax laws. “The circular provides the basis of taxation for all international shipping lines in Nigeria and the public notice requested all international shipping lines to regularise their tax affairs with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) within three months of the date of that publication” “Consequently, the Service hereby requests all international shipping companies operating in Nigerian territorial waters in whatever capacity (containerized, bulk cargo, fishing trawlers, crude oil and natural gas lifting vessels, dredging, survey, floating, production, storage, and offloading, etc.) to immediately regularise their tax positions.” The service noted that it is collaborating with relevant security agencies to prosecute defaulting shipping agencies after December 2023. The statement reads, “The Service is collaborating with relevant government regulatory and security agencies in the maritime sector to commence enforcement action on defaulting shipping companies after the expiration of the grace period of December 31, 2023”

FCTA inaugurates task force on safe handling of petroleum products

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has inaugurated a Ministerial Task Force on the safe handling of petroleum products in the capital city, Abuja. The Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, while inaugurating the task force in Abuja on Thursday, said that the measure was to curtail incidences of fire outbreaks in the nation’s capital. Adesola said that fire outbreaks in the FCT in recent times had resulted in the loss of lives and destruction of property. He vowed to sanction any fuel-filling station within the territory that failed to observe the necessary safety measures as required by law. “In 2022 alone, no fewer than four filling stations were reported to have been gutted by fire within the FCT. “Improper handling of petroleum products, as well as non-compliance with safety measures as it concerns operational guidelines of managing filling stations have been largely responsible for several fire outbreaks,” he noted. Adesola expressed optimism that the Ministerial Task Force would work assiduously to reduce occurrences of fire outbreak by ensuring that operators of filling stations adhered strictly to safety measures. He explained that inaugurating the taskforce was a proactive step taken by the government to secure the lives and property of residents. He said that part of the terms of reference of the taskforce was to monitor and ensure compliance to safe timing of uploading and offloading of volatile substances, including petrol and cooking gas. He said that the task force was also expected to monitor and ensure that all filling stations had functional, basic and relevant equipment. Adesola also said that the task force would ensure that filling stations had trained fire safety officers. “They are also to monitor and ensure that volatile substances are not off-loaded with vehicles or customers already waiting within the premises of the filling stations. “The task force is expected to clamp down on “black market” operators and the filling stations conniving with them. “The task force will be expected to recommend the closure of filling stations violating basic fire safety rules and those found colluding with black market operators. The members of the task force were drawn from the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Development Control, FCTA Fire Service Department, and FCTA Department of Security Services. Others, he said, were drawn from the Department of State Security Services, the Nigerian Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers. The task force also has representatives from NNPC upstream and downstream sectors, major petroleum marketers’ associations, and independent marketers’ associations. Responding, the Chairman of the Task Force, Dr Idriss Abbas, Director-General, FEMA, thanked the FCTA for finding the members capable of handling the assignment. He assured the FCTA that the task force would work assiduously to deliver on the mandate. 

Forge Discharge Certificate go to jail, NYSC warns Nigerians

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said forgers of its discharge or exemption certificates risk jail term, option of fine or both as penalties. The Director, Legal Services, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, said this on Monday in Abuja during the 2023 Legal Officers’ Capacity Building Training. The training has “The Role of the Legal Officer in the Defence of the Public Service in Nigeria” as its theme. According to Ibrahim, the NYSC Act contains all the infractions that people should know about. “The infractions are many, like forging the NYSC certificates. “Also, persons that are supposed to go for youth service as specified in the Act are not coming for youth service while those that are supposed to come for service will do but will not complete it and abscond. “Therefore, the Act itself has specified what is to be done in respect to these instances.” Ibrahim also said some attend the orientation camps with forged documents and when such persons are caught, they are arrested by the police for prosecution. He said that though such cases abound in court, the exact number could not be determined, adding that they were being followed up. “The punishment, first of all, is to arrest them, the police will now charge them to court and it is now left for the courts to decide if it is imprisonment or fine. “It is at the discretion of the court to say this is what we are going to do as the term of imprisonment. “If you are found guilty by the court, the court can give you two years jail term depending on the type of offence or three years or an option of fine or both jail term and fine.” Regarding Corps Producing Institutions’ (CPIs) involvement in such infractions, Ibrahim said that those caught in the NYSC engage in the ‘lifting of the veil of corporate personality’ of such institutions. According to him, if they submit names of unqualified corps members they are also guilty and are sent to court.He said the punishment to be meted to such institutions was also at the discretion of the court. He, however, said that such institutions are not delisted but are allowed to still send the names of their intending corps members for mobilization. He also said that it was worrisome that such infractions were coming up day by day. On the essence of the training, he said a lot of people were committing a lot of infractions against the NYSC Act. He said therefore, it deemed it necessary to ensure that members of the public know exactly what the Act contains and what they should and should not do. The Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed said that the enhancement of capacity building to stimulate efficiency and higher corporate performance was in line with one of the focal areas of his policy thrust to the scheme. Ahmed, represented by Ibrahim, said the training was organized to enhance the capacity and knowledge of legal officers in the scheme on their professional roles in the defence of the Public Service in Nigeria. He said that the training was expected to harness the potential of the legal officers in the scheme for improved professional services. “Over the past 50 years of existence of the scheme, our experience has shown that the decision by management to train and re-train staff of the scheme has proven to be very fruitful. “This is especially in the training of legal officers, judging from the laudable achievements recorded so far by the Legal Unit and the professional conduct of legal officers in the scheme. “The unit has kept faith with its mandate of rendering quality legal advice to the NYSC management and has shown due diligence in handling cases involving the scheme in different Courts of Law in Nigeria. “To further contribute to the achievements of the legal unit, this training is an ideal platform to evaluate the activities of the unit with a view to breaking new grounds towards strengthening the values of the scheme.” The training is expected to enhance their competence and practical performance/service delivery in the areas of legal drafting and litigation in both civil and criminal matters. Others are legal education involving corps legal activities and general legal advice.