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Police Service Commission rules out extension for retiring senior officers

Bankole ABE
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Police Service Commission rules out extension for retiring senior officers

THE Police Service Commission (PSC) has said extending the tenures of senior retiring police officers is against existing laws.

The PSC insisted that every police officer due for retirement before the general election must leave.

It added that there could never be any leadership vacuum in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The Commission said this in a statement signed by Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations on Tuesday, January 24.

“Rising from a Management Meeting on Monday, January 23rd 2023, in Abuja, the Commission said the ongoing campaign for the extension of the tenures of some Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs), Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs), Commissioners (CPs) and other senior Police Officers was an unnecessary distraction and an affront on all the existing laws in the country guiding entry and exit in the public service.

“The Commission took a decision that it will not extend the tenures of the retiring senior Police Officers, stressing that even when requested, it can not do so as it is against all existing laws, the Police Act, the Police Service Commission Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the PSC said.

The PSC stressed that there is an institutional succession plan in the Nigeria Police Force, especially with the current injection of 10,000 Constables and several thousands of cadet ASPs from the Police Academy every year.

The Commission assured Nigerians that there would be no vacuum in the hierarchy of the Police with the touted retirement of hundreds of senior Police Officers.

The statement added that the Commission would rigidly uphold the provisions of the law, which stipulate that a serving public Officer, whether in the Police or any other Government Agency, must exit the service at the age of 60 or after having served for a period of 35 years.

Meanwhile, on Monday, January 24, the PSC denied ever endorsing the tenure elongation of the Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba.

Baba is to attain the retirement age of 60 years in March 2023.

The Commission, in a statement, said it would commit itself to the letters and spirit of the laws of the land and would not at any time support or encourage any attempt to subvert the law.

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This is coming after the Police Affairs Minister, Mohammed Dingyadi, said last week that the IGP would not be retiring when he turns 60 on March 1.
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President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Baba as IGP in April 2021 after former IGP Mohammed Adamu turned 60.

The PSC is saddled with the Constitutional mandate to recruit, promote, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding offices in the NPF.

States reject LG autonomy as NASS transmits Constitution amendment bills to Buhari

Beloved JOHN
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States reject LG autonomy as NASS transmits Constitution amendment bills to Buhari

THE National Assembly has transmitted 35 Constitution amendment bills to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

The Senate on Tuesday, January 24, directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to transmit the amendment bills that met the requirement for assent as provided in Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

According to the Senate, the concerned bills have been approved by at least 24 state assemblies as required by law. A total of 44 amendment bills were considered but 35 met the requirement.

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Proposed 1999 Constitution amendment is a futile exercise – Afe Babalola

The state assemblies did not vote on the alteration of the Constitution and as a result, the two bills that seek to grant financial and legislative autonomy to local governments did not meet the requirement for being assented into law.

Presenting the report, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele identified Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi and Edo states as some of the states who have presented their resolution on the bills.

Others are Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Rivers and Yobe.

The Senate also asked nine state assemblies yet to submit their resolutions on the bills to do so.

The states yet to forward their resolutions are Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.

Here is a complete list of the bills considered by the 27 states.

1. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 3 (Change of Names of Afikpo North and Afikpo South Local Government Areas (Ebonyi State)

2. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 4 (Change of Name of Kunchi Local Government Area (Kano State)

3. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 5 (Change of Names of Egbado North and Egbado South Local Government Areas (Ogun State)

4. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 7 (Correction of the name of Atigbo Local Government Area (Oyo State)

5. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 8 (Correction of Name of Obia/Akpor Local Government Area (Rivers State)

6. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No 9 (Financial autonomy of State legislatures and State Judiciary)

7. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 10 (Enforcement of Legislative Summon)

8. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 11 (Inauguration of Members-Elect)

9. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 21 (Deletion of reference in the Constitution to the provisions of the Criminal Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Code or Evidence Act)

10. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 22 (Provision for Intervening Events in the Computation of Tine for the Determination of Pre-Election Petitions, Election Petitions and Appeals therefrom)

11. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 24 (Expansion of the Interpretation of Judicial Office)

12, Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 25 (Appointment of Secretary of the National Judicial Council)

13. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 29 (Devolution of Powers (Airports))

14. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 30 (Devolution of Powers (Fingerprints, identification and criminal records)

15. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 31 (Devolution of Powers (Correctional Services)

16. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 32 (Devolution of Powers (Railways)

17. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 33 (Devolution of Powers (National Grid System)

18. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 39 (Power to enforce compliance of remittance of Accruals into the Federation Account and Review of Revenue Allocation Formula)

19. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 40 (Independence of Certain bodies)

20. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 41 (Removal of Transitional Law-making Powers of the Executive

21. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 43 (Domestication of Treaties)

22 . Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 44 (Timeline for the Presentation of Appropriation Bills)

23. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 45 (Timeframe for the Submission of the Names of Ministerial or Commissioner Nominees)

24. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 48 (Power to summon the President and Governors)

25. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 49 (Authorization of Expenditure)

26. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 50 (Replacement of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation with the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government)

27. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 51 (Creation of the Office of Accountant-General of the Federal Government)

28. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 53 (Separation of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and the State from the office of the Minister or Commissioner for Justice)

29. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 54 (State of the Nation and State of the State Address)

30. Bill No. 55 (Composition of Members of the Council of State)

31. Bill No. 57 (Restriction on Formation of Political Parties)

32. Bill No. 62 (Correction in the Definition of the Boundary of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja)

33. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 63 (Fundamental Human Rights)

34. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 65 (Food Security)

35. Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bill No. 66 (Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps)

Lassa fever: NCDC says it did not shun Edo’s call for support

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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Lassa fever: NCDC says it did not shun Edo’s call for support

THE Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has debunked the claim by the Edo State government that it shunned its call for support against Lassa Fever outbreak in the state.

In response to The ICIR’s enquiry on the allegation, the Centre’s Director General Ifedayo Adetifa, a doctor, said the claim was untrue. 

At the first Executive Council meeting of the Edo State government on January 18, 2023, the Edo state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, alleged that the Federal Government abandoned the state with the disease.

He accused the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, a medical doctor, who hails from the state, and agencies of the Federal Government, including the NCDC and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, of failing to heed the state’s plea for support to confront the Lassa fever outbreak.

Nehikhare said the state had over 50 persons infected with Lassa fever as at January 18. 

He noted that experts warned that the case fatality rate in the state was five per cent. He also argued that the warning was a sufficient reason to be deeply worried and the reason it raised the alarm for help.

The state government called on the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other agencies within the global health ecosystem with a mandate to intervene in infectious disease outbreaks to come to its aid.

“This call has become necessary as the Federal Government of Nigeria has clearly abandoned Edo State and our people in the fight against Lassa Fever that is spreading at an alarming rate.”

Debunking the allegation, the NCDC DG explained that the Centre continued to work with the Federal Government to offer material and technical support to all states with Lassa fever, especially high-burden states like Edo.

Adetifa maintained that healthcare remained a collective responsibility of governments at all levels. 

“While the NCDC, as the country’s national public health institute, has the mandate to lead the prevention, preparedness, and response to public health emergencies, states also have statutory responsibilities for planning and delivery of preventive and curative health services to their citizenry.

“At the end of November 2022 and ahead of the projected rise of Lassa fever cases, the NCDC prepositioned supplies for case management, infection prevention and control, laboratory diagnosis, etc., in all historical Lassa fever hotspots, including Edo State. All these supplies, including their delivery, are provided at no cost by the Federal Government and Federal Ministry of Health through the NCDC.”

He said since 2017, working through the Lassa Fever Technical Working Group (TWG), the NCDC had been offering support to all states responding to Lassa fever, especially the high-burden states – Edo, Ebonyi and Ondo. 

Support offered includes capacity building and training of healthcare workers on infection prevention and control, as well as clinician training on Lassa fever case management (including the provision of Ribavirin, consumables such as intravenous fluids, and antibiotics among others).

Adetifa said the NCDC got a request from the Edo State Commissioner of Health, Obehi Akoria, a professor, asking for more consumables to support the state’s response to the disease and had delivered the products.

The World Health Organization defines Lassa fever as an acute viral haemorrhagic illness transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces. 

Multiple reports by the NCDC in Nigeria have shown Edo and Ondo states leading the outbreak and mortality charts of the disease.

Nigerians should look beyond Tinubu’s age, health — Shettima

Vincent Ufuoma
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Nigerians should look beyond Tinubu’s age, health — Shettima

THE Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, has asked Nigerians to look beyond the age and health of the party’s flagbearer, Bola Tinubu.

Speaking at a dinner hosted in honour of President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos on Monday, January 23, Shettima urged Nigerians to look at the bigger picture of what Tinubu’s presidency holds for the country.

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Explaining that he was not saying Nigerians should not conduct a critical assessment of their leaders, the former Borno State governor described concerns expressed over Tinubu’s health and age as mischievous.

He noted that he and the former Lagos State governor were not preparing to participate in the Olympics but for what he described as governance that “thrives on superior ideas”.

“There is this mischievous fixation on Asiwaju’s health and age,” he said.

“We are not urging Nigerians to turn down critical assessments of their leaders but we direct them to look at the larger picture, we are not preparing for the Olympics but an institution that thrives on the superiority of ideas and established track records.”

He claimed that Tinubu has shown a propensity for sacrificing his personal comfort for the good of the nation.

According to him, right from the days of the nation’s struggle for the enthronement of democracy till date, a lot has been said about Tinubu but largely by “quacks with a poor sense of history.”

Speaking further, Shettima said when Tinubu’s contemporaries were trading their principles for a seat at the table in the Presidential Villa during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, he stood for justice and fairness.

He said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, sought refuge in Tinubu when he was “harassed” by his party in 2007.

“For Atiku Abubakar, in 2007, when he was harassed, intimidated and chased out of the PDP, he (Tinubu) gave him a sanctuary and platform to contest for the presidency of this country under AC,” he said.

“It happened four years later when the same platform was provided for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to contest for the presidency of this country.

“Those of us from the North owe him (Tinubu) debt of gratitude for supporting our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015 and 2019.”

TRACE offers prize for investigative reporting on financial crimes

Blessing OTOIBHI
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TRACE offers prize for investigative reporting on financial crimes

THE Trace Foundation is now accepting entries for the 2023 Prize for Investigative Reporting themed ‘Uncovering Commercial Bribery’.

The TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting recognises journalism that uncovers business-related bribery and financial crime with the goal of increasing commercial transparency and good governance.

Nominees may be print, broadcast or online reporters from any country who have investigated commercial bribery schemes, business activities that create serious conflicts of interest, or similar commercial misconduct. Team entries and multiple submissions per author are permitted. Book-length entries are not accepted.

A panel of independent judges will review the submissions and select up to two winners, who will each receive a cash prize of US$10,000. Reporter(s) will be invited to an award ceremony hosted by TRACE. The judges may also name up to two honorable mentions, who will each receive US$1,000.

Founder and President of TRACE, Alexandra Wrage says, “Every year we receive extraordinary examples of investigative journalism that expose corruption with the goal of advancing accountability and transparency. We look forward to receiving this year’s submissions and honoring the journalists undertaking this important work.”

Application is rolling and submissions will be accepted through January 31. Interested applicants can apply here

 

Intn’l Day of Education: Nigeria battles high number of out-of-school children

Ibukun AJAYI
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Intn’l Day of Education: Nigeria battles high number of out-of-school children

NIGERIA is faced with a challenge of high number of out-of-school children as the world marks the International Day of Education on Tuesday, January 24.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed January 24 as International Day of Education in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

With the theme ‘To invest in people, prioritize education’, this year’s event is dedicated to Afghan women and girls who have been denied the opportunity to receive formal education.

Status quo: Out-of-school children

Unfortunately, this is also the situation in Nigeria as 60 per cent of over 10 million out-of-school children are girls. Globally, there are 118.5 million girls out of school.

With the current global recession and widening inequality, stakeholders have urged the Nigerian government to give priority to education in order to get towards all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more quickly as there hasn’t been much of a change in Nigeria’s out-of-school rates among adolescents and young people in secondary school whose out-of-school population has grown by 61 per cent, from 6.3 million to 10 million. Also, the number of primary school-aged children who are not in school also increased by 50 per cent, from 6.4 million to 9.7 million.

Nigeria has a total of 19.7 million out-of-school children – the country with the third highest number of children deprived of education according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2020 Model Estimates.

Call to action: Improvement in levels of literacy/digital literacy

In order to reverse the trend and spur accelerated development, the UN urges governments, the global community, and important stakeholders to stick to their pledges to prioritize investment in education and educational transformation.

Governments have been advised to ensure adequate funding and implementation of policies towards tailoring learning to students’ unique abilities and needs at all levels.

Stakeholders have also urged the Federal Government to make literacy (ability to read and write) and digital literacy the hallmark of the country’s educational system. Nigeria’s literacy rate stands at 62 per cent, far below many other African countries.

In South Asia, there are more issues with digital literacy, whereas in some African nations, there are more issues with affordability. However, these various restrictions are not mutually exclusive. A survey carried out in the World Development Report 2021 shows that about 60 per cent of Nigerians who participated in that survey do not know what the internet is and do not know how to use the Internet. About 25 per cent do not have access to digital devices as they could not afford to purchase them while others considered the use of digital devices or gaining digital knowledge irrelevant.

Relevant stakeholders, including the government, have been urged to make efforts to not only equip Nigerian citizens with digital knowledge but also to make digital devices affordable.

Nigeria to host regional digital economy conference

Sinafi OMANGA
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Nigeria to host regional digital economy conference

THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that Nigeria is set to host the West Africa Digital Economy Conference.

NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Muoka said digital economy policy makers and stakeholders in the West African sub-region would converge in Abuja from January 31 to February 1.

He noted that the conference will discuss the future of digital economy and intensify regional public private partnerships.

With the theme ‘Positioning West Africa’s Digital Economy for the Future’, Muoka said the conference will provide a platform for countries in the region to discuss issues to strengthen the digital economies in West Africa and by extension, the continent.

Parts of the statement read: “The event is being hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the World Bank.

“The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami will deliver the keynote address at the event.”

The statement also said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mohammed Bello will join Pantami to welcome Ministers and top government officials from the sub region.

Meanwhile, Pantami said the conference would create an avenue for peer review to accelerate digital transformation and increase collaboration to secure partnerships within the region.

The Minister added that it would also strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem while intensifying regional public-private partnerships for digital economy funding, research and development.

“It is expected that the gathering will also provide an opportunity to showcase the progress made in the development of digital economy in the West African sub-region.

“Identify winning strategies, discuss challenges, and prepare for the future in addition to creating awareness of the region’s needs in the areas of policies and framework for the digital economy.

“It will also attract private sponsors for digital transformation in the region”, Pantami said.

 

President Buhari lauds Sanwo-Olu on agriculture revolution  

Harrison EDEH
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President Buhari lauds Sanwo-Olu on agriculture revolution  

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday January 23, 2023 commended Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for his administration’s revolution in the agriculture sector, especially in rice production.

A statement issued and signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Gboyega Akosile, on Monday January, 2023 quoted Buhari as personally telling Sanwo-Olu, “You are doing well.”

Buhari spoke at the inauguration of the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota, which the governor said was the largest rice mill in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth largest in the world.

The President, after touring the facility, seeing the rice pyramid and also watching the last part of the bagging process, which is the sealing, expressed delight at he saw.

Sanwo-Olu said during the tour, “Mr. President, this is the result of your rice revolution. This rice is called Eko Rice, proudly Nigeria. It is the best in town now.

“It is being done because of the agricultural revolution of Mr President, who, when he started his government, said Nigerians should grow what they eat and they should eat what they grow.

“We are happy that Lagos is a testament of that. With 2.8 million bags of 50-kilogramme rice per annum, Lagos is ready to support the rice revolution and the food revolution in Nigeria.”

The mill is expected to create 250,000 direct and indirect jobs.

MRA condemns harassment of Arise TV journalist

Mustapha USMAN
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MRA condemns harassment of Arise TV journalist

MEDIA Rights Agenda (MRA) has condemned the harassment of an Arise Television cameraman at the campaign meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, with the Lagos business community on January 13, 2023.

The MRA, in a statement issued on Monday, January 23, by its Programme Director Ayode Longe, described the expulsion of the journalist from the meeting as “bizarre, high-handed and a violation of the rights of the media’.

According to the MRA, the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council’s (APC-PCC) blatant disregard for the rights of a journalist performing a constitutionally-protected function portends grave dangers for the media should that candidate prevail in the elections.

The APC-PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, had claimed on Twitter that the Arise Television cameraman was caught clandestinely live streaming Bola Tinubu’s campaign event without authorization and accused him of being “on espionage mission”.

However, Longe expressed outrage at the allegation and the APC-PCC’s justification for its unconstitutional action, describing it as ridiculous and baffling.

He said: “What authorization does the journalist require to perform his professional duty of covering a political campaign event? How can a purely journalistic act by a cameraman from a television station filming a public political campaign event and beaming it live to a public audience be characterized as espionage? Should the cameraman have first made a public announcement that he is covering the event so as not to be accused of doing so clandestinely?

“We find this particularly bewildering because Mr. Onanuga, who issued the justification and made the accusation of espionage, spent a significant portion of his career as a professional journalist engaged in what came to be known as guerrilla journalism, for which he and the two media outlets, TheNews and Tempo magazines, where he served as an editor, were widely applauded, including by people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. It is the worst form of irony that he is now attempting to condemn a journalist engaged in his professional pursuit as having committed a capital offence.

“If this attitude is indicative of the vision of the party or its presidential candidate on the role of the media in the democratic process, then we shudder to think of what the future holds for journalists and the media community should this attitude and mentality be brought into the highest political office in Nigeria,” he added.

Longe noted that it is the duty of the media to scrutinize and hold accountable public office holders and institutions as well as public figures, including political parties and candidates seeking public office.

He stressed that the media has to ensure that members of the public have as much information as possible about the candidates seeking officer, their programmes and their track records, adding that the media cannot properly play their role in the electoral process if they are prevented from having access to public events which form part of the process.

According to him, anyone unwilling to be subjected to scrutiny by the media has no business seeking public office.

He further explained that it is contrary to the code of journalism practice in Nigeria and everywhere else in the world that institutions or individuals who are being held accountable should be the ones to determine the media organizations or journalists that are allowed to hold them to account.  

While noting that journalists should be given the fullest access to all electoral events, he urged “the entire media community, regardless of the political sympathies that individual media professionals may have, to rise in unison to condemn the APC-PCC’s undemocratic action.”

Longe also called on the APC-PCC to publicly apologise to the cameraman and his media organization and make a public commitment not to repeat such action in future.

FIRS records N10.1trn revenue collection in 2022

Harrison EDEH
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FIRS records N10.1trn revenue collection in 2022

THE Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that it collected over N10 trillion in tax revenue in the year 2022, the highest tax collection ever recorded in its history.

The Service made this known in its ‘FIRS 2022 Performance Update’ report signed by its Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami, and released to the public today.

The FIRS explained that it collected a total of N10.1 trillion in both oil (N4.09 trillion) and non-oil (N5.96 trillion) revenues, as against a target of N10.44 trillion.

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The Companies Income Tax, it said contributed N2.83 trillion; Value Added Tax, N2.51 trillion; Electronic Money Transfer Levy, N125.67 billion; and Earmarked Taxes, N353.69 billion.

The non-oil taxes, the report said contributed 59 per cent of the total collection in the year, while oil tax collection stood at 41 per cent of total collection.

The Performance Update Report also clarified that included in the total revenue sum was the sum of N146.27 billion, which was the total value of certificates issued by the Service to private investors and NNPC for road infrastructure under the Road Infrastructure Development Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme created by Executive Order No. 007 of 2019.

The report also stated that the N10.1 trillion is exclusive of tax waived on account of various tax incentives granted under the respective laws, which amounted to N1,805,040,163,008.

Providing perspectives to this development, the FIRS noted that the current management, upon assumption of office, came up with a four-point focus, namely: administrative and operational restructuring, making the service customer-focused, creating a data-centric institution, and automation of administrative and operational processes.

The revenue agency pointed out that over the period of 2020 to 2022, the management introduced reforms bordering on the four-point focus, saying the strategy was producing results.

“The reforms introduced at different times from 2020 are gradually yielding fruits. By the close of 2022, the Service had fully restructured the administration of the Service for maximum efficiency, and achieved internal cohesion such that all functional units are working in unison towards the achievement of set goals.

“As a result of the conducive environment created for staff, officers of the Service are pulling their weight on the global stage with international recognitions and awards,” the report added.

The Service, the report said had also automated most of its administrative and operational processes.

“A major leap was the full deployment of the TaxPro Max for end-to-end administration of taxes in June 2021. The module for the automated TCC went live on January 1, 2023, while taxpayers had already downloaded over 1,000 TCCs this year without having to visit the FIRS office,” the report stated.

It also noted that the Service had operationalised its data mining and analysis system, thereby allowing for data-backed taxpayer profiling.

Other reforms the Service introduced in this period focused on the detoxification of the tax environment by ridding it of mutual mistrust, negative tax morale, and tax evasion, through effective taxpayer education, open engagement with stakeholders and improved services.

It noted that it was through these reforms, framed around the four-focus points, that the Service was able to achieve this collection.

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