BY SAHARAREPORTERSR

…N39 billion looted revenue used as blackmail

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, was helpless at a recent, secret meeting between him and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, officials of his Alpha Beta Consulting, and the Chairman of the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Chief Babatunde Fowler, a Tinubu’s associate, on what to do with the huge revenue base of the FCT.

At issue was the much coveted revenue base of FCT presently put at N500 billion annually. The minister had no counter offer on the pressure
mounted on his administration to abandon the Federal Capital Territory Board of Internal Revenue Service established by an Act of the National
Assembly in 2015 to generate revenue for FCT and allow the FIRS to do the job.

FCT generates revenue through property tax, tenement rates, federal allocation, revenues generated by 52 agencies and the six area councils of
the FCTA and other initiatives.Tinubu is said to have long coveted FCT revenue and actually made such demand on former President Goodluck Jonathan as one of the basis for his support during the 2015 presidential elections. The request was allegedly turned down by the Jonathan administration prompting the APC leader to pitch tent with the Buhari team a year later.

An impeccable source at the meeting toldPointblanknews.com that the APC leader and officials of the FIRS promised the minister and the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babatunde Ajakaiye, “reasonable percentages” of the total revenue generated in order to ditch the FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service and allow the FIRS generate revenue for Abuja.

The former Minister of the FCT, Bala Mohammed, had inaugurated the FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service before leaving office in 2015. The board which sat severally was recently dissolved by President Mohammadu Buhari along with other boards of federal parastatals and is yet to be
reconstituted.

The former minister had charged the board to generate N400 billion revenue for FCTA in 2015.The two top shots at FCT were also told to provide private firms to be branded “consultancy firms” supposedly appointed by the FIRS to help generate revenue for FCTA as part of the deal.

Recall that before the law backing the FCT Revenue Board was enacted last year by the National Assembly, a private firm, SW Global, owned by the former Permanent Secretary of the FCT and the present Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia, Nathaniel Olorunfemi, was generating revenue for FCT.
The company deducted 10 per cent from revenues generated by FCT agencies monthly and the proceeds was shared between the company and some top officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) especially the Director of Treasury, Alhaji Ibrahim Bomai, who just
proceeded on pre-retirement leave.

But some FCT agencies had protested that the company in question never generated any revenue for the agencies but was always on standby to deduct monthly accruals from the agencies. The deductions continued for three years until 2015. A former head of the FCT Waterboard, who led the protest by the agencies was fired by the then Minister of FCT, Bala Mohammed.

But the strongest argument designed to blackmail the minister and his permanent secretary into submission by the Tinubu gang was the N39 billion unremitted revenue by successive administrations of the FCTA which led to the arrest of the Executive Secretary of the FCDA, Engr. Adamu Ismaila in 2014 by the FIRS.

The FIRS was also complicit in the looting of the FCT treasury as the federal agency promoted leakages which some of its officials in
collaboration with FCTA officials benefited from until it succumbed to pressure to move against the looting scheme.

“Beyond the N39 billion issue, the minister was also blackmailed into agreeing that the FCTA lacked the capacity to generate revenue as it
required 6,000 personnel to be able to meet the revenue generation demands of the FCTA. The minister admitted that the ministry did not have the funds to recruit and pay staff.

“But the truth is you don’t need that number to generate revenue for FCT. There is an existing Board of Internal Revenue backed by the law that
should generate revenue for FCT. FCT operates like a state. Does FIRS generate revenue for the states? This is impunity”, a dependable source
privy to the development, said.

A group, Abuja Transparency Observatory (ATO), has, however, challenged the development threatening to take legal steps against what it described as “process corruption and a breach of the constitution”.

A statement signed by the Chairman of the group, Festus Bafyau, said the Buhari administration seems to be moving from corruption of moving cash around to process corruption.“The FCT operates like a state in the constitution and has its own FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service. Why should FIRS be generating revenue for FCT while a functional revenue board backed by the law exists?

“The park and pay policy initiative failed in Abuja because it was not backed by any law. FCT Board of Internal Revenue exists with the mandate
to generate revenue for FCT. Why FIRS with its fraudulent record of revenue generation in FCT? Are we now in the era of process corruption as
against the corruption of moving cash around”, he queried, and threatened that the group would duly take steps to challenge the development in court.

Tinubu and his group in FIRS are said to have planned a revenue projection of N1 trillion between 2016 and 2017 and is seen in some
quarters as a way of generating campaign funds for President Buhari’s expected 2019 bid.

http://saharareportersrescue.com/2016/04/12/3555/

mynd44, lalasticlala, seun, mukina2

Evry day pesin go here fresh Tory about naija politicians.


What a country

On thing is for sure Sahara reporters are at the top of investigative journalism in this country

Well one day the empire tinubu is building will collapse ans fall on him

God sometimes use bad people to bring about good changes....

Things are happening !

If wailers no believe this Saraha news, make I bend

When tax and its management is concern, Tinubu can't be omitted.

That is the change they voted for. Nigeria has gone to the dogs

What exactly does Tinubu needs these stupendous loots for? Tunde Fowler is doing exactly what Tinubu placed him there for.

Nigerians will understand how stupid they are when they realise the looting going on in this govt

Your headings read sahara reporters



The main story is from pointblank news s known PDP blog




The end and the link to the story read sahara reporters rescue which is a PDP faked version of the muchly reliable Sahara reporters.




The story itself is boring and badly written and arranged. Stories like this can only be believed by the slowpokes and the gullible ones.

the message of salvation is poppycock to those destined to perish

goonsmi:
Your headings read sahara reporters



The main story is from pointblank news s known PDP blog




The end and the link to the story read sahara reporters rescue which is a PDP faked version of the muchly reliable Sahara reporters.




The story itself is boring and badly written and arranged. Stories like this can only be believed by the slowpokes and the gullible ones.

the pdp mole/wailers\ really need help.

no time for your trash

goonsmi:
I have told the people in my family. that we are all brainless , gullible and f00lish .

fixed

.
.

goonsmi:
I am a goblin from a cursed family.

Fixed

me I just dey observe. I wan see how dis change go end, weada nigerians will be shortchanged at d end.
person don get billions, e stil dey need more..... y na?
me na just 50k I need to start biznez.

We really de one chance oh... Nothing come out for this APC led government. Nothing at all

If the OP of this article is not an Igbo make I perish before day break tomorrow.

How this people's brain is configured to produce insane article is beyond my comprehension.

I don try so tey na ban I de chop for NL. Igbo @ this junction I salute una ability to hate, he superior pass the level my brain can process.

From first coup, to first civilian war, to first prime minister killing, to Kanu who as the ambition to reincarnate Rwanda styled genocide in Nigeria.

Una lives is truly destined to hate.

I beg make anybody help me find n include that picture of that magician bowing in recongintion to the world standard hatred exhibited by Biafran on Nigerians daily to this comment. It is indeed commendable.

And tomrw somebody will say PDP is corrupt while exonerating APC?

May is not be well with such a person!

mrvitalis:
On thing is for sure Sahara reporters are at the top of investigative journalism in this country

Well one day the empire tinubu is building will collapse ans fall on him

God sometimes use bad people to bring about good changes....

Read the piece again carefully and you will see that it's not from Sahara Reporters. Beside, all the allegations there makes no sense. The FCT internal revenue law is an act of the National and nobody, no matter how powerful can stop it's implementation.

na serious Sahara Reporters RESCUE, abeg na who dem rescue?
some go just sit for their laptop just dey type thrash, dey av forgotten that it's Yaradua's ailment and Abdulmutallab that makes SR known, if dey also wan get credibility, make dem travel go Sambisa bring us reports that government can't refute, then we will trust them.

mrvitalis:
On thing is for sure Sahara reporters are at the top of investigative journalism in this country

Well one day the empire tinubu is building will collapse ans fall on him

God sometimes use bad people to bring about good changes....

@ the bold I do not concur..Tinubu wants to ruin Nigeria the way Lagosians future have been mortgaged through his Alpha Beta Draconian measures on tax collections as designed for him by Osinbajo and Fowler.