MUST SEE : The 10 Things Nigerians Don’ t Know About
A bill seeking to grant amnesty for treasury
looters has been passed by the Senate and
it’s causing a lot of uproar among Nigerians
who think it is a way to encourage corrupt
practices.
Below are 10 things you should know about
this bill according to the International Centre
for Investigative Reporters:
1. ORIGINAL TITLE:
Popularly known as ‘Bill for Amnesty for
Treasury Looters’, the bill is actually titled ‘A
Bill for an Act to establish a Scheme to
harness Untaxed Money for Investment
Purposes and to assure any Declarant
regarding Inquiries and Proceedings under
Nigerian Laws and for other matters
connected therewith’.
2. ITS ORIGIN:
The bill was proposed by Linus Okorie,
member House of Representatives
representing Ohaukwu/Ebonyi Federal
Constituency of Ebonyi state.It was read in
the Green Chamber for the first time on June
14, 2017, and it scaled through the second
reading in July.
3. WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS:
According to Okorie, the bill “seeks to allow
all Nigerians and residents who have any
money or assets outside the system or have
acquired such money or assets illegally
(looted or any variant of the cliché) to come
forward, within a set time-frame, to declare
same, pay tax/surcharge and compulsorily
invest the funds in any sector of the Nigerian
economy; and be granted full amnesty from
inquiry/prosecution”.
4. TIME FRAME:
The bill is expected to operate for three years
from the date of commencement, with the
establishment of the Voluntary Taxable
income Recovery and Amnesty scheme.
5. PROPOSITION:
The bill, dubbed ‘Economic Amnesty,’ provides
in Section 4, a 30 percent tax and additional
surcharge of 25 percent of such tax. While
the proposed tax would be remitted to the
federation account for distribution to all tiers
of government, the surcharge is to be
remitted directly to specific agencies towards
agricultural and infrastructural development of
the nation.
It proposes that 25 per cent of the money will
be paid as tax, to be shared by the three tiers
of government. Thirty percent of the money
will be invested in agriculture, while the rest
will be invested in any choice sector of the
economy.
It provides in Section 3 (1) that “…any person
may make, on or after the date of
commencement of this Scheme but before a
date to be notified by the Central Bank of
Nigeria in an Official Gazette, a declaration in
respect of any income chargeable under the
income-tax law for any assessment prior to
the enactment of this Act.”
Section 3 (2) states that: “Where the income
chargeable to tax is declared in the form of
investment in any asset, the fair market value
of such asset as on the date of
commencement of this Scheme shall be
deemed to be the undisclosed income for the
purposes of sub-section (1).”
6. COMPULSORY INVESTMENT OF ‘STOLEN’
FUNDS:
The bill proposes that “the amount declared
from the undisclosed income shall (after
payment of the tax, surcharge in respect of
the declaration) be invested in Nigeria by the
declarant in any sector of the Nigerian
economy.”
The proposed law also exempts all
declarations made from further assessment/
taxation by any tax authority within Nigeria,
outside the tax and surcharge provided
therein.
In the bill, the Federal Government has
powers to make consequential “orders not
inconsistent with the Scheme to remove any
difficulties” that may arise in the course of
implementation.
7. THE BENEFITING GOVT AGENCIES:
The agencies are the National Agricultural
Research Development Fund and the Nigerian
Infrastructure Fund.
8. MANAGER:
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to
manage the scheme, while the declaration
would be made to the Chairman of the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
9. AMNESTY FOR LOOTERS:
In return, the bill proposes a total and
comprehensive amnesty for all declarants
from all otherwise repercussions under
Nigerian laws and further provides that all
such declarations shall be inadmissible in
evidence against the declarant except in
‘matters of national security.
Matters of national security are those facts
and issues to be determined by a court of
competent jurisdiction before effect is given
to the exception, the bill says.
Outside the exception on grounds of national
security, no declarant shall be required to
state the source or sources of the assets or
income declared.
10. ‘WORKABLE’ SOLUTION TO CAPITAL
FLIGHT:
The lawmaker said the scheme would be a
workable solution for reversing capital flight
that has bedevilled the Nigerian economy, and
initiate a reverse flow through resultant
repatriation.
Meanwhile, the controversial bill has been
denounced as ‘satanic’ by Hon. Ehiozuwa
Johnson Agbonayinma, the chairman of the
House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee
on US/Nigeria Relations.
He stated that if the bill passes into law, it
would be retroactive for the country and will
encourage corruption.
He noted that separate laws cannot be made
for treasury looters when ordinary Nigerians
are being jailed for stealing as little as N1000.
Source: Naij.com
looters has been passed by the Senate and
it’s causing a lot of uproar among Nigerians
who think it is a way to encourage corrupt
practices.
Below are 10 things you should know about
this bill according to the International Centre
for Investigative Reporters:
1. ORIGINAL TITLE:
Popularly known as ‘Bill for Amnesty for
Treasury Looters’, the bill is actually titled ‘A
Bill for an Act to establish a Scheme to
harness Untaxed Money for Investment
Purposes and to assure any Declarant
regarding Inquiries and Proceedings under
Nigerian Laws and for other matters
connected therewith’.
2. ITS ORIGIN:
The bill was proposed by Linus Okorie,
member House of Representatives
representing Ohaukwu/Ebonyi Federal
Constituency of Ebonyi state.It was read in
the Green Chamber for the first time on June
14, 2017, and it scaled through the second
reading in July.
3. WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS:
According to Okorie, the bill “seeks to allow
all Nigerians and residents who have any
money or assets outside the system or have
acquired such money or assets illegally
(looted or any variant of the cliché) to come
forward, within a set time-frame, to declare
same, pay tax/surcharge and compulsorily
invest the funds in any sector of the Nigerian
economy; and be granted full amnesty from
inquiry/prosecution”.
4. TIME FRAME:
The bill is expected to operate for three years
from the date of commencement, with the
establishment of the Voluntary Taxable
income Recovery and Amnesty scheme.
5. PROPOSITION:
The bill, dubbed ‘Economic Amnesty,’ provides
in Section 4, a 30 percent tax and additional
surcharge of 25 percent of such tax. While
the proposed tax would be remitted to the
federation account for distribution to all tiers
of government, the surcharge is to be
remitted directly to specific agencies towards
agricultural and infrastructural development of
the nation.
It proposes that 25 per cent of the money will
be paid as tax, to be shared by the three tiers
of government. Thirty percent of the money
will be invested in agriculture, while the rest
will be invested in any choice sector of the
economy.
It provides in Section 3 (1) that “…any person
may make, on or after the date of
commencement of this Scheme but before a
date to be notified by the Central Bank of
Nigeria in an Official Gazette, a declaration in
respect of any income chargeable under the
income-tax law for any assessment prior to
the enactment of this Act.”
Section 3 (2) states that: “Where the income
chargeable to tax is declared in the form of
investment in any asset, the fair market value
of such asset as on the date of
commencement of this Scheme shall be
deemed to be the undisclosed income for the
purposes of sub-section (1).”
6. COMPULSORY INVESTMENT OF ‘STOLEN’
FUNDS:
The bill proposes that “the amount declared
from the undisclosed income shall (after
payment of the tax, surcharge in respect of
the declaration) be invested in Nigeria by the
declarant in any sector of the Nigerian
economy.”
The proposed law also exempts all
declarations made from further assessment/
taxation by any tax authority within Nigeria,
outside the tax and surcharge provided
therein.
In the bill, the Federal Government has
powers to make consequential “orders not
inconsistent with the Scheme to remove any
difficulties” that may arise in the course of
implementation.
7. THE BENEFITING GOVT AGENCIES:
The agencies are the National Agricultural
Research Development Fund and the Nigerian
Infrastructure Fund.
8. MANAGER:
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to
manage the scheme, while the declaration
would be made to the Chairman of the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
9. AMNESTY FOR LOOTERS:
In return, the bill proposes a total and
comprehensive amnesty for all declarants
from all otherwise repercussions under
Nigerian laws and further provides that all
such declarations shall be inadmissible in
evidence against the declarant except in
‘matters of national security.
Matters of national security are those facts
and issues to be determined by a court of
competent jurisdiction before effect is given
to the exception, the bill says.
Outside the exception on grounds of national
security, no declarant shall be required to
state the source or sources of the assets or
income declared.
10. ‘WORKABLE’ SOLUTION TO CAPITAL
FLIGHT:
The lawmaker said the scheme would be a
workable solution for reversing capital flight
that has bedevilled the Nigerian economy, and
initiate a reverse flow through resultant
repatriation.
Meanwhile, the controversial bill has been
denounced as ‘satanic’ by Hon. Ehiozuwa
Johnson Agbonayinma, the chairman of the
House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee
on US/Nigeria Relations.
He stated that if the bill passes into law, it
would be retroactive for the country and will
encourage corruption.
He noted that separate laws cannot be made
for treasury looters when ordinary Nigerians
are being jailed for stealing as little as N1000.
Source: Naij.com
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