*NIGERIA’s COVID-19 FINANCIAL PALLIATIVE MEASURES FOR LOW INCOME EARNERS: LESSONS LEARNT FROM A COUNTRY THAT LACKS DUE PROCESS, ADEQUATE TAXATION AND FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY*

When I read the news from Business Day today that Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development - Sadiq Umar Farouq has disbursed the sum of N20,000.00 each as COVID-19 Financial Palliative to 2.6 million low income households in Nigeria I was shocked to my bone marrow.

Can the Honourable Minister please come to the National TV and tell Nigerians the rationale her otherwise good office used in sharing this humongous sum of money to some 2.6 million households in our country? Who are the real beneficiaries of this relief funds? Does the Honourable Minister has an idiot proof record of who got what please?

To be honest, we cannot continue to run Nigeria as a lawless society where fiscal responsibility, accountability, due process and authentic national database does not exist. I opine that to succeed as a nation, at all times, we must embrace the culture of authentic fiscal accountability and real governance system.

Let me please openly advise government that Nigerians are tired of this sort of knee-jerk reactions to disaster management and social development.

As a rule, any serious government should ensure that everyone in the country pays tax annually no matter how little, so long as the person works as an employee, a self-employed person or a business person.

While I agree that it is the duty of government to enforce a transparent and credible tax system in any country, it is also the responsibility of the citizens/residents to ensure that their taxes are properly filed as at when due and in accordance with the revenues and expenditures incurred during the financial year. There should be no if’s and no but’s because tax avoidance is a very serious criminal offence in any civilised country.

At difficult times like this Corona Virus stay at home national challenge, a responsible and responsive government uses the Tax Database to filter out which persons are indeed the low income earners with a view of ensuring that adequate relief measures are extended to them without recurse to undermining fiscal accountability, due process and probity.

How on earth would any serious government audit the funds allegedly disbursed by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in relation to this Corona Virus Fiscal Intervention Measures?

We must call a spade a spade by acknowledging that Nigeria’s Fiscal Accountability Framework is grossly flawed and needs very urgent intervention.

We definitely cannot continue in this self-ruin trajectory as a nation. It’s time to organise for Nigeria, government and the governed alike.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria ��

Dr. (Engr.) Donald Igwegbu CEng., CMarEng., FIMarEST

Convener - Organising for Nigeria

...Country First?

https://businessday.ng/coronavirus/article/2-6m-households-have-benefited-from-n20000-coronavirus-palliative-farouq/amp/

Pursue Jonathan pursue Jonathan,

Una eyes don dey clear now?

Nnnnnnnn

That one na obvious lies now..

We should probably be expecting another Chimpanzee swallowing money story.

Heartless people everywhere

It was fake news from BusinessDay

Won’t be surprised if the sharing had the face of Federal Character where the North will have more than the South. What parameters made up the indicators used in the debursement. Does a Mama Ngozi sellling Road side plantain have a bank account to receive 20k from this Ministry?
We go hear scores later when we hear that majority of the funds went into accounts of loyalist and proxies. Nigeria I hail thee