Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Policy Advisory Council had recommended the declaration of a state of emergency on revenue generation in the country, while proposing the merger of the three agencies into the Nigerian Revenue Service, to enable an efficient collection of all direct and indirect taxes, as well as levies on behalf of the Federal Government.
The National President of APFFLON, Frank Ogunojemite, advised the Federal Government to carry out comprehensive scrutiny of every proposal before its implementation to avoid further administrative catastrophe.
Ogunojemite urged Tinubu’s administration not to fail to assemble experts to x-ray every economic policy to know how best it would benefit the country before its implementation.
He urged the president not to sacrifice good governance on the altar of nepotism, saying the maritime industry needs round pegs in round holes if the country sincerely needs to progress.
“I believe that the council means well but the merger will not yield positive results. The policy will impede the ease of doing business as process requirements could become cumbersome. The policy can as well negatively affect the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and even jeopardise the Single Window policy of the Nigeria Customs Service,” he said.
Ogunojemite said from the submissions made by the National Economy Sub-Committee, the policy will be aided by the passage of an Emergency Economic Reform Bill, which will grant the president special powers to drive the economic reform agenda and support the delivery of sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
He further advised the committee to seek stakeholders’ input and not forget the 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the economy and the Nigerian Ports Reforms.
