Sunday, 31 July 2016
UPDATE: THE LASSA FEVER SAGA
LASSA FEVER
DESCRIPTION.
Lassa fever is an extremely virulent, often fatal, Old-World, viral hemorrhagic illness. Lassa fever, an arenavirus, is an enveloped, single-stranded, bisegmented RNA virus. As with other arenaviruses, Lassa virus does not have a conventional negative-strand coding arrangement.
Lassa fever occurs more often in the dry season, rather than in the rainy season. It is the most commonly "exported" hemorrhagic fever; its victims carry the disease from Africa to the United States, to the United Kingdom, tp the Netherlands, Israel, and Japan.
Lassa fever is named after the town (in the Yedseram River valley) in which the first cases were isolated in 1969, during a nosocomial outbreak at a local hospital. (A clinical description of Lassa fever was published in Sierra Leone over a decade earlier, but received little or no attention.)
LOCATION.
Parts of West Africa, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia. However, sporadic Lassa infections may have also occurred in Senegal and Mali. One host genus has been identified as spreading at least one Lassalike virus in central Africa.
VECTOR.:
The rat species Mastomys, in particular, M. natalensis is a consistent host reservoir for the Lassa virus due to the congenital neonatal infection, which results in rats with long-lasting and/or lifelong infection.
Because of the mechanism of infection, there is no break in the natural chain from virus to host species. The rats themselves might show no symptoms of the disease, but they shed the virus freely in urine and droppings, and secrete the virus in their saliva.
Because certain varieties of Mastomys often live in human homes, the virus is easily transmitted to humans. Transmission occurs via direct contact with rat urine, feces, and saliva; via contact with excretion- or secretion-infected materials; or via ingestion of excretion-contaminated food. Victims can also become infected via skin breaks, and via mucous membranes from aerosol transmission from dust-borne particles. In some areas, the rodents are used as a food source, thus providing additional exposure to the infected rat blood, as well as allowing ingestion of potentially contaminated meat. Laboratory workers become infected usually from contact with rodent saliva.
Unlike other arenaviruses, Lassa virus can be fairly easily transmitted from human to human. Humans can contract the disease from other humans via aerosol transmission (coughing), or from direct contact with infected human blood, urine, or semen. Lassa virus has been isolated from semen 6 weeks after acute illness; the virus can be transmitted to sexual partners by convalescent men.
MECHANISM.:
The virus enters the human body through the bloodstream, lymph vessels, respiratory tract, and/or digestive tract. It then multiplies in cells of the reticuloendothelial system. Virus replication in the reticuloendothelial cells causes capillary lesions. These capillary lesions lead to erythrocyte and platelet loss, with mild to moderate thrombocytopenia and a tendency toward bleeding. Capillary lesions also cause increased vascular permeability and hemorrhage in various organs, such as the stomach, small intestine, kidneys, lungs, and brain.
INCUBATION PERIOD:
Usually about 10 days. Can range from 1-24 days. Most patients display symptoms for 4 to 5 days before seeking hospital treatment.
SYMPTOMS.
Gradual onset of fever and malaise. Increased fever (which can last 2-3 weeks) and myalgia, with severe prostration, accompanied by involvement of specific organs and serosa. Patients frequently present with pain behind the sternum and with coughing.
Additional common symptoms include: abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation; also: conjunctivitis, pharyngitis (inflammation of mucous membranes and the underlying parts of the pharynx), increased vascular permeability (such as pleural effusions), and proteinuria (protein in the urine). About 10-30% of patients present with facial and neck swelling. Approximately 2/3 of patients present with sore throat, usually accompanied by objective inflammatory or exudative (oozing) pharyngitis. Some patients experience adult respiratory distress syndrome. Skin rashes and jaundice are rare.
Some patients experience bleeding from the gums. In addition, capillary lesions cause hemorrhaging in the stomach, small intestine, kidneys, lungs, and brain. Less than 1/3 of patients present with bleeding; however, bleeding is a predictor of a significantly higher risk of death. In severe cases of Lassa fever, shock and vascular collapse occur, followed by death. Research suggests that the shock results from platelet and endothelial dysfunction, which cause hemorrhage and allow fluid to leak into the intravascular system.
Patients who will survive begin to defervesce 2-3 weeks after onset of the disease. In contrast, patients who are at the greatest risk of dying usually develop shock, clouded mental status, agitation, rales, pleural effusion, and sometimesgrand mal seizures. The four symptoms associated with a 2.5-fold or higher risk of mortality are: vomiting, sore throat, tachypnea (rapid breathing), or bleeding.
During convalescence, although the virus may no longer be found in the blood, pericarditis can occur, especially in males. The following conditions may also occur during convalescence: aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, global encephalopathy with seizures, cerebellar ataxia (uncommon), and deafness (common). Temporary or permanent deafness in one or both ears occurs in 29% of Lassa fever patients.
Experiments on guinea pigs have shown that Lassa virus can manifest differently, with significantly varying symptoms. It is suspected that subtle genetic changes in tissue-specific variants of the disease create the differences in disease manifestation.
DIAGNOSIS.:
Lassa virus can be diagnosed in three ways:
1. Isolating the virus from blood, urine, or throat washings.
2. Demonstrating the presence of immunoglobuline M (IgM) antibody to Lassa virus.
3. Showing a fourfold rise in titer of IgG antibody between acute- and convalescent-phase serum.
The virus can be isolated from the blood or serum during the febrile phase of the disease, up to 2 weeks postonset. Antibody can be detected by CF, IFA, or ELISA. In severe cases, patients can die before the appearance of antibodies.
Other laboratory results:
• Leukocyte count can be low, normal, or moderately elevated.
• Platelet counts are usually normal, but might be slightly low.
• AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) are usually elevated (10x normal).
• Chest x-rays are usually normal, but may show pleural effusions or basilar pneumonitis.
• Albuminaturia (excessive amounts of albumin proteins in the urine) is common.
• ECGs are usually abnormal.
Initial possible diagnoses of the Lassa-infected patient may include malaria, shigellosis, and typhoid.
MORTALITY (DEATH) RATES:
Prognosis for Lassa patients has a direct correlation to levels of viremia. However, prognosis does not correlate with the patient's development of IgM or IgG antibodies. The antibodies do not seem to neutralize the Lassa virus.
The mortality rates for Lassa virus are typically estimated at 15% to 20%. Some studies estimate mortality as high as 45%. One survey of Lassa infection vs. mortality rates indicates that less than 1% of all Lassa-virus infections in West Africa will eventually result in fatal disease. The mortality rates for Lassa appear to be much higher in people of non-African stock.
Lassa virus also causes high fetal mortality and high mortality in pregnant women. The mortality rate is 92% for fetuses in early pregnancy, 75% for fetuses in the third trimester, and 100% in the neonatal period for full-term babies. High concentrations of the virus have been found in both fetal tissue and in the placenta. It is suspected that maternal T cells cannot attack the concentrations of virus in the placenta because placental cells cannot express class I or class II MHC antigens.
The mortality rate for gravid women is 7% in the first two trimesters, 30% in the last trimester, and 50% for pregnant women who delivered within 1 month. In contrast, the general mortality rate for nonpregnant women only is 13%.
TREATMENT/ PREVENTION :
For adults, ribavirin: 2-gm loading dose, followed by 1 gm every 6 hours for 4 days; followed by 0.5 gm every 8 hours for 6 days. There is no treatment for the deafness (which resembles idiopathic nerve disease) associated with Lassa fever. Antibiotics may also be administered to patients to ward off or treat secondary and/or opportunistic bacterial infections.
Severely ill patients may receive treatment before the diganosis is confirmed.
Currently, there is no effective prophylactic (preventive) treatment for Lassa fever. However, some sources recommend prophylactic doses of Ribavirin for people coming in high-risk contact with viremic patients.
OUTBREAKS AND HISTORY OF INFECTION.
Lassa fever was first recognized in 1969 in Lassa, Nigeria. Subsequent outbreaks occurred in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In some parts of Sierra Leone and Liberia, 10% to 16% of all patients admitted to hospitals have Lassa fever. Some Lassa fever cases have been "imported" into the U.S. and U.K. through viremic travelers who acquired the disease elsewhere.
A few notes on outbreaks:
- 1969, northern Nigeria - first recognized outbreak of the disease.
- 1970 to present, Liberia. Most cases were hospital workers who acquired the disease in the hospital from the index patient.
- 1970 to present, Sierra Leone. It is estimated that 6% of all residents in the initial endemic area have antibodies to Lassa Fever, even though only 0.2% were recognized as clinically ill.
- Estimated 100,000-300,000 infections per year in West Africa.
About 2/3 of all reported cases are women, but this might be a result of exposure, rather than a tendency toward greater susceptibility in women to the disease
VACCINE:
No vaccine is currently available. However, the most promising approach to developing a vaccine appears to be via vaccinia-vectored Lassa genes. These have been protective in both guinea pigs and nonhuman primates.
HOWEVER, Studies with rodents have shown that infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) or Tacaribe can confer protection against normally lethal attacks of Lassa virus.
NOTE: This file/post is for information only. It is not intended for diagnosis.
Friday, 29 July 2016
NEW ISLAMIC LAW: FATHER’S LUST FOR HIS DAUGHTER IS NOT A SIN IF THE DAUGHTER IS OVER 9 YEARS-OLD
Turkey has an official directorate in charge of interpreting Islamic law, popularly known as the Diyanet. It has a website where people ask questions about various aspects of Islamic law.
The website recently stirred up controversy by issuing a fatwa, or religious ruling, which asserted that fathers having lustful feelings toward their own daughters are not necessarily violating religious law, provided the girl is over nine years of age.
The Diyanet now says this ruling was a “misinterpretation,” and the officials responsible have been fired.
Al-Monitor translates the question that stirred up this controversy as, “Would my marriage be void if I lust for my own daughter?”
An unidentified ulama, or Islamic scholar, replied that it was not an open-and-shut case. “There is a difference of opinion on the matter among Islam’s different schools of thought,” he asserted. “For some, a father kissing his daughter with lust or caressing her with desire has no effect on the man’s marriage.”
Al-Monitor writes that after “elaborating in graphic and disturbing detail about girls’ attire,” the ulama suggested, “The girl should be over nine years of age.” For good measure, he wrapped things up with an “explanation about differences in sexual arousal between males and females.”
Al-Monitor hastens to point out that incest is prohibited in the Koran, and under Turkish law.
Evidently someone at the Diyanet quickly realized this hideous incest fatwa was going to cause trouble, because it was yanked off their website, but not before Turkish news organizations and social-media users got screen captures of it.
Thursday, 28 July 2016
DOLLARNIZE. COM REVIEW – IS IT A SCAM OR ITS LEGIT?
DOLLARNIZE.COM: REAL FACTS YOU MUST KNOW. 
This review is going talk about a website called Dollarnize.com. What is Dollarnize? Is it a scam? Or a legit opportunity for you to make money online? In this short review, I will uncover the real truth of what Dollarnize is actually all about.
Alright without further ado, let’s get things rolling…
Name: Dollarnize
Website: http://dollarnize.com
Owner: ???
Price: “Free to join”
Rating: 1/5
What Is Dollarnize all about?
Dollarnize is a website that claims to pay you money for completing simple tasks. This is a fairly new site that has been around only since 25 January 2016. According to their homepage statistics, they have over 137,000 members and claimed to have paid out over $786,000 USD.
What really caught my attention is the earning claims they made.
” Small tasks takes just 30 seconds to complete and earn $10 per task “
They seemed totally ridiculous and too good to be true to me. I have been making money online since last year and I have come across similar scams like this over this period, so I am not buying this one just right away.
I decided to create an account with them to see for myself whether it is legit or not.
My Personal Experience…
I registered with them but deliberately left out my address because I am not comfortable giving it. Strangely, I was able to complete my registration without even completing the form.
Frankly speaking, this is one of the shadiest sites I have ever come across. The overall appearance of the website has been a let off. It just gives me negatives vibes going through the site. Anyway, within the members area itself, there isn’t anything much too.
All they had was an account area where I was provided with my very own referral link.
Basically, there isn’t any task for you to complete. The only task is for you to use your referral link and promote this website. They even went on to say that you will earn $10 for every unique visitor that clicks your link.
I followed exactly what they said and shared my link in some of those places. I managed to get lots of people to click my link and I did see my total earning increase from 25 USD(signup bonus) to about 400 USD. The minimum cash out was 300 USD and I already surpassed it by an extra 100 USD.
I know, some of you would be thinking right now… so did I get paid?
Well, as suspected… I didn’t get paid a dime. There was a catch before I could eventually cash out that “money” I made. Basically, they gave me some surveys to do. What’s worst is, these surveys aren’t even free. I have to spend money to complete those offers.
Obviously, I’m not going to do that because…
(1) I don’t want to waste my money on the useless offers
(2) I doubt that even after I spend money completing the surveys, I would be getting any money out of it
From what it seems, this whole website exists for one purpose. Basically, they want you to promote this site to as many people as you can so that more people will come forward and complete the surveys thus these guys can make money.
At the end of the day, they are making money off us. It obviously a no-brainer that you can’t make money simply by allowing people to click the link. If that’s the case everyone can instantly become rich.
SO IS DOLLARNIZE A SCAM?
YES! Dollarnize is definitely a scam and I have no doubt about that.
It’s best to stay away from this website at all cost. Although it doesn’t require you to spend a lot of money, it still is a scam because it gives you empty promises and wastes your time and effort recruiting people.
You should understand that earning money online is no different from the corporate world. You will have to work hard to get paid. Those that promise you easy or instant money are obviously lying.
Yes, there are some opportunities that are free to join and allows you to make money without spending a dime such as Pay-To-Click sites or taking online surveys. But frankly speaking, those are not going to help you make a good amount of money as they only pay pennies. I’ve been there and done that!
If you are serious about making good revenue online, you might want to check out my #1 Recommendation below…
Alright, I have come to the end of my review on Dollarnize.com. I do hope by now you have a better understanding of what it is all about and whether it is something you want to take part in. Those of you who have personally tried Dollarnize are welcomed to share your experiences with us in the discussion section below
FINAL VERDICT: REAL SCAM. THEREFORE NOT RECOMMENDED
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
AMAECHI, WIKE COMPELLED TO HANDSHAKE DURING PEACE MEETING ON RIVERS-RERUN HELD ON JULY 26, 20169.
In a bid to ensure a violent-free re-run Senatorial/House of Representative elections in Rivers State, a crucial meeting to chart the path to peace in Rivers State before, during and after the re-run elections in the state was held yesterday in Abuja, between the Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IG Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of Department of State Services, DSS, Alh. Musa Daura.
REVEALED: AYO FAYOSHE THREATENED FORMER PRESIDENT GOOLDLUCK JONATHAN – ALUKO
As against the denials of Governor Ayodele Fayose that he never got any money from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary in Ekiti State, Dr. Temitope Aluko has revealed that the governor’s election was indeed funded with cash from Dasuki’s office, some oil contractors and that Fayose threatened former President Goodluck Jonathan that he must deliver so that Jonathan will win in Southwest. Tope Aluko Aluko, who claimed that Zenith Bank did not sponsor the campaign of Governor Ayo Fayose, but only made a token donation of N200 million after he had won the governorship election. Aluko made this disclosure during a live interview programme on ADABA 88.9 FM monitored in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday. Aluko who said Fayose was not a buoyant man before coming out to contest the 2014 governorship election, added the Governor only had a little close to N10 million in his personal account, also revealed that his primary election was sponsored by Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers in Abuja. The Ekiti poll fraud whistleblower revealed that it was after Fayose had won the Ekiti PDP primary that cash from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and oil contractors was deployed to fund the campaign for the main election. He said Zenith Bank and other corporate organizations came in with business proposals after Fayose had won the election maintaining that the governor’s claim that his campaign was sponsored by Zenith Bank was a “blatant lie.” Aluko explained during the interview that Fayose purchased five houses with the N2.3 billion, which was a remainder of the slush funds from ONSA in choice locations like Abuja, Banana Island and Victoria Island in Lagos. Speaking on the feud between Fayose and Obanikoro on the arms cash, Aluko revealed that a crisis of confidence broke out among the duo following a discovery that part of the money ferried by plane to Akure for the purpose of Ekiti poll was short by N80 million. He said: “The Presidency gave us security and money; the money was sent from a Diamond Bank branch through an account run by Sylvan MacNamara, a company owned by Obanikoro. “My boss (Fayose) said he wanted to get his own in cash and that was why arrangement was made to get his own in cash and that was why such a huge amount (N2.1 billion) was ferried by plane. Obanikoro cannot claim not to have brought the money. “He (Fayose) chose his man, Abiodun Agbele, to keep the money in a Zenith Bank account and the money was lodged at Zenith Bank, Alagbaka Branch in Akure. The transaction was not recorded and it got to a stage when it was discovered that the money was short by N80 million. “This causes a crisis between Fayose and Obanikoro who brought money thrice from Abuja. He (Obanikoro) brought other things apart from money which I won’t disclose now and it was from it that N1 billion was released to INEC officials to manipulate Ekiti and Osun polls. “Fayose was threatening (former President Goodluck) Jonathan that he (Fayose) must deliver so that Jonathan will win in Southwest. All the PDP elders were kept out of picture over the transactions and cash and some of the cash deployed did not get to their destinations. “The cash carried in the plane was not entered into the manifest, the N2.1 billion was delivered to a bank at 4.30 am in Ekiti. The N2.3 billion remaining from the total cash received for the election was used to buy house in Abuja and the house belongs to Fayose. “Fayose purchased five houses in Victoria Island and Banana Island. The property in Dubai was purchased by a fellow who is known as Bisi in Ekiti but is known as Femi abroad. Questions are being asked on the N3 billion used to purchase the Dubai property but I strongly believe that we will recover our money.” Refuting Fayose’s claim that Zenith Bank sponsored his election, Aluko said: “It is not true that Zenith sponsored his campaign, a meeting was held in Lagos where Zenith donated N200 million and that was after he had won the election. There was no time Zenith sponsored us. “If Zenith wanted to give us money, they did not need to use an aircraft to carry cash, all they need to do was to generate the money from their branch in Akure through the local branch of Central Bank of Nigeria.” Speaking on the purported begging of the governor by some Zenith Bank officials, Aluko said Fayose masterminded the “show” to blackmail the bankers following the heat generated by the freezing of his accounts. Aluko said: “That is the style of my boss (Fayose); the (Ado Ekiti branch manager), Bunmi Falana also known as “Bumshaka” and Goke (Olatunji) were personal assistants to Fayose during his first term but Bunmi quit politics following a spiritual attack he suffered and demanded a career job. “It was Fayose that used his position to secure a job for him at Pacific Bank before he assisted him to get a job at Zenith Bank. But they later fell apart over money issues after which the EFCC arrested Bunmi. “The governor told the banks to make his boys their branch managers and they are in charge of Ekiti Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accounts which I want the EFCC to beam their searchlights on. “Fayose threatened Bunmi, telling him that he made him and would also destroy him that was why Bunmi knelt down before him. That is what Fayose used to do to blackmail people. “No big money flowed into Fayose’s campaign until the month of June (2014) and the election was not sponsored by Zenith. All the monies collected were either paid into the account of Spotless Investment or Fayose’s personal account. There was a time N117 million cash paid into the account of Spotless Investment in one single day, that is August 22, 2014 which was far in excess of what a customer can deposit in a single day, six deposits in a single day. “Dasuki had said it before that N10 billion was spent on Ekiti and Osun polls and they are in various tranches. We know that of $2 million, another N2.1 billion and N4.7 billion, the bank did not sponsor his campaign.” On the failure of the governor to pay civil servants’ salaries, Aluko said the problem could be traced to the fact that what Fayose earns 40 per cent of the monthly allocation as entitlements. He explained that Fayose receives N250 million as security vote every month which was jerked up from N150 million received by his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi apart from various allowances received from Government House and Protocol. Aluko maintained that if Fayose should reduce his his motley allowances, there would be a substantial amount that could be channeled to workers’ salaries adding that Fayose has less financial commitment unlike Fayose who paid social security to the aged, peace corps, youth volunteers, among other schemes scrapped by his successor. The PDP stalwart doubted Fayose’s claim that the state now generates N300 million monthly compared N600 million monthly generated during the Fayemi administration. He said the fact that Fayose has imposed series of taxes on Ekiti people should shore up the revenue base. “IGR ought to be more than that; Fayose is now collecting money by force from people like okada riders, banana sellers, shop owners and other petty trade. If you impose taxes not imposed by your predecessor, the IGR suppose to be more than that. “I want the authorities concerned to beam their searchlight on the various IGR accounts run by Ekiti State government because Ekiti people are asking questions on this. He said further: “Fayose should shed from the hefty allowances he raised for himself to pay other people that are suffering because this is someone who is making noise when his account was closed what about other people being owed salaries for the past six months. “It is very insulting for a governor to be saying that he cannot sell his wife and children to pay salaries. It is absurd for somebody to have billions in his account and property all over to be telling the people to endure pains. “Some banks were closed recently because the banks insisted that due process must be followed over Corporate Social Responsibility projects and this has led many Ekiti sons and daughters to lose their jobs”. He expressed fear that Ekiti may not get another bailout because the Fayose government cannot meet the conditions specified to access the funds to bring succour to workers. Aluko stated: “TSA is not in operation, state accounts not published, salary structure unknown, IGR unknown, what is spent on recurrent and capital expenditures unknown and the consultant is the same person operating as contractor.
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
FRSC “ROAD SAFETY” CAN NO LONGER IMPOSE FINES ON DEFAULTERS, COURT RULES
A federal high court in Lagos has declared void powers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to impose fines on motorists for traffic offences.
Justice John Tsoho, a federal high court judge, held that the commission could not turn itself into a court of law by punishing those who commit traffic offences.
Tope Alabi, a lawyer, had approached the court to declare that only a court of competent jurisdiction could pronounce a person guilty under section 10 (4) and 28 (2) of the FRSC Act 2007.
Other defendant in the suit was the attorney-general of the federation.
The judge also awarded N1million damages in favour of the plaintiff because officials of the FRSC had confiscated his vehicle and driver’s licence.
Tosho said while FRSC was statutorily empowered to arrest and fine traffic offenders, a closer look at the definition of the word “fine” meant a pecuniary criminal punishment or civil penalty payable to the public treasury.
“In the instant case, however, the involvement of the element of arrest takes the imposition of fine by the FRSC to the realm of criminal punishment,” he said.
“From these definitions, it is obvious that the act of sentencing is a judicial action or exercise, and imposition of fine connotes conviction for an alleged offence.
“It is, thus, very clear that the FRSC, not being a court of law, cannot impose fine, especially as it has no powers to conduct trial.
“Hence, the exercise of the statutory powers given to the defendant under the Act as pertain to imposition of fine is clearly a usurpation of judicial powers exclusively vested in the courts.
“In the circumstances, I endorse the plaintiff’s submission that by virtue of section 1(3) of the constitution, the power to impose fine conferred on FRSC by the enabling act is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency with the constitution.”
Tsoho held that the FRSC resorted to “legislative absurdity” when it imposed a fine of 3,000 on the plaintiff, rather than the N2,000 statutorily prescribed.
“FRSC’s function should not go beyond issuance of mere notices of offence,” he ruled.
“It is a cardinal principle of natural justice that no person can be condemned without being heard.
“It is in observance of this that a person alleged to have committed an offence has to respond to such allegation before a court of law during trial.”
According to the judge, the plaintiff was issued a notice of offence Sheet on April 4, 2013, but FRSC did not take him to court for five months before the plaintiff filed his suit on September 9, 2013.
“The vital question to ask is how long would it take the FRSC to reasonably commence prosecution of a traffic offence?” he asked.
“The plaintiff was not under obligation to wait indefinitely for redress due to FRSC’s inaction or laxity.
“I hold the view that the confiscation of the vehicle was unnecessary in the first place, though the FRSC spiritedly sought to justify it.”
The judge then granted 11 of the 14 reliefs sought by the plaintiff, awarding N1million in his favour instead of the N10 million prayed for.
GOOD NEWS FOR NIGERIANS AS NIGERIA SET TO FUND BUDGET FROM NON-OIL REVENUE SOURCES, SAYS FIRS CHAIRMAN
With earnings from oil exports declining steadily by the day as a result of low global crude oil prices, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Chairman, Tunde Fowler, said on Monday the Federal Government was now ready to fund annual budgets from non-oil revenue sources.
During the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting last week, 70 per cent of the over N559.03 billion shared among the three tiers of government for June came from non-oil revenue sources.
Apart from a total of N279.16 billion realised as non-mineral revenue, another N67.4 billion came from value added tax (VAT), in addition to increases in revenue from company income tax (CIT), import duties and royalties.
Mr. Fowler, who is also the Chairman, Joint Tax Board (JTB), hailed the development, describing it as unprecedented.
“It was the first time in 2016 that the Federal Government shared over N500 billion among the three tiers of government during the Federal Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting,” Mr. Fowler said.
“We are proud of the development and we tell ourselves that this is the time to fund the budget of the Federal Government from non-oil sources.”
Mr. Fowler was speaking in Abeokuta when he led 36 Chairmen of the State Boards of Internal Revenue (SBIRs) to the Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, shortly after declaring open the 135th meeting of the JTB.
“Whatever you (SBIRs), Nigeria Customs and others did last month that ensured that we (Federal, States, shared over N500 billion at FAAC—(the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee), please continue to do it. It is good for the Federal Government. It is good for states. It is good for Local Governments. It is good for the nation,” Mr. Fowler said.
The FIRS Chairman said although tax revenue collection was seasonal, a combination of new taxpayer registration drive, tax education and engagement through the establishment of the federal engagement and enlightenment tax teams (FEETT) was beginning to yield results.
He said the audit of five key sectors, namely banks and the financial sector, aviation, power, telecoms and oil and gas would also boost the country’s revenue generation profile.
The FIRS, he said, has also added over 700,000 new corporate accounts in the system since he assumed office, adding that Nigeria has a cumulative figure of 10 million registered taxpayers, in addition to the number of taxpayers of SBIRs and and the FIRS.
“The JTB has given itself a target to register at least 10 million additional taxpayers by December 31, 2016. We have commenced tax enforcement too. We are happy that the efforts of the FIRS in collaboration with revenue stakeholders are already yielding positive results,” he said.
Mr. Fowler said the FIRS and SBIRs have resolved to work together to register more taxpayers, across states, data sharing, exchange of information, joint audits to improve efficiency and tax yields from audits, capacity building through joint training programmes and exchange of personnel.
To ensure the implementation of the collaboration framework, FIRS has requested the approval of state governments for the automation payments process on taxable transactions to enhance the deduction, at source, particularly of withholding tax and VAT.
Mr. Fowler thanked Mr. Amosun for being the first state governor to approve FIRS’ request on automated deduction and remittance of VAT and Withholding Tax from the point of payments to contractors in states.
For Governor Amosun, the ability of the Federal Government to collect more than N500 billion last month proved the country could generate more if everyone was determined to explore other sources of revenue apart from oil.
“It has come to a point we should say, okay, let us leave oil aside. Let us face non-oil sources. All hands must be on deck to grow our tax revenue. We must find a way of bringing the rich people into the tax net,” the governor said.
The JTB, established in 1961, is the umbrella body for State and Federal tax authorities in Nigeria, to promote uniformity and harmonisation of Personal Income Tax Administration across the country.
CHECKOUT HOW MUCH FG, STATES AND LOCAL GOVTS GOT AS ALLOCATION FOR JUNE 2016 BY FAAC
For the first time in the 2016 fiscal year, the monthly allocation from the Federation Account crossed the N500bn threshold with the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee distributing a total sum of N559.03bn to the three tiers of government on Thursday.
This is even as the gross revenue accruing to the federation increased by N301.32bn, the highest in a long time.
Addressing journalists shortly after the FAAC meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, attributed the increase in revenue to efficiency in collection by the revenue generating agencies.
Specifically, she said there was an increase in non-oil tax collection by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, as the agency recorded an increase of N165bn in tax collections, while the Nigeria Customs Service raised its revenue by N12.6bn
Adeosun said, “The big cause of the increase is the improvement of non-oil revenue from the FIRS. The FIRS improved its performance between last month and this month by N165bn. And that accounted for the change in revenue; and also, there was an improvement of N12.6bn by the Nigeria Customs Service, as well as the exchange rate gain of N79.2bn
“This is a significant improved performance, especially by the Customs that was able to do so despite the scarcity of foreign exchange and the restrictions on the 41 items. So, we are quite encouraged by that because it means that some of the reforms that we have started around collection improvement are beginning to bear fruit.”
This increase in revenue, according to her, led to an improvement in the amount allocated to the three tiers of government from N305.12bn in May to N559.03bn for the month of June.
Giving a breakdown of the amount shared, the minister said:
N412.3bn was distributed under statutory allocation;
N67.4bn under Value Added Tax revenue;
the balance of N79.27bn was allocated from the gain made from exchange rate differentials.
Out of the N412.3bn shared under statutory allocation, Adeosun said that after deducting the costs of collection to the Customs and the FIRS, the Federal Government received N199.75bn; the states, N101.3bn; local governments, N78.11bn; while the sum of N17.12bn was shared to oil producing states based on the derivation principle.
For VAT, she said Federal Government received N9.7bn; states, N32.35bn; and local governments, N22.67bn.
The minister said, “The gross statutory revenue of N538.78bn received was higher than the N237.46bn received in the previous month by N301.32bn. The average price of crude oil increases from $32.26 in February to $38.64 in March, resulting in $92.99m increase in federation export revenue.”
“There was an outstanding increase in Companies Income Tax and Petroluem Profit Tax with complementary increases in import duty and royalties.”
Adeosun put the balance in the Excess Crude Account at 3.94 billion dollars as at July 20, indicating an increase of 1.68 billion dollars over the the 2.26 billion dollars in the previous month.
When asked about plans to stimulate the economy away from the looming recession, the minister said that there was no need for panic as the fundamentals of the economy were still strong.
Meanwhile the Chairman, Commissioners of Finance Forum, Mr John Inegbedion, said with the improved revenue for the month, all 36 states would be able to pay salaries for the month.
Also, the Commissioner of Finance, Cross River, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong, said the state would start processing May and June salaries for payment.
