Reps want ban on import of locally-produced goodsTHE National Assembly yesterday offered measures to stimulate the economy and remove hitches in the country's public administration.At the inauguration of its committees, the Senate called for the establishment of a Budget Office in the Upper Chambers to ensure the smooth passage and execution of the national budget.The House of Representatives, which faulted certain trade and fiscal policies of the Executive arm of government, called for a ban on the importation of locally made goods.Senate President David Mark, who inaugurated the committees, expressed concern over the delay in presenting the 2012 budget to the National Assembly.He also deplored the state of the nation's aviation sector and called for immediate action to transform the industry.Mark lamented that as sensitive as appropriation is to delivery of democratic dividend, its implementation since 1999 had not been satisfactory.According to him, the 2012 budget ought to have been forwarded to the Legislature for action, insisting that the lawmakers needed to work on the proposal sent by the Executive arm of government.While soliciting for a Budget Office in the Senate to act as an advisory body, Mark admonished members of the committees not to allow them to be hijacked by a few individuals, pointing out that there was a need to carry out a thorough exercise.Among the committees inaugurated by Mark were on aviation headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma, Rules and Business led by Senator Ita Enang, Nigerian Air Force, chaired by Sa'idu Ahmed Alkali, and Agriculture and Rural Development under Senator Emmanuel Bwacha.Mark decried the state of the nation's airports and called for an urgent overhaul of the industry. He noted that the facilities at the nation's airports are belowinternational standard and called on the Federal Government to tighten security at the airports in view of the increasing wave of terrorism.The Lower House, which also expressed concerns over the frequent granting of tax waivers by the Federal Government,called for a ban on the importation of goods that are produced within the country.It equally decried alleged politicisation of the waiver principle, noting that such practices could hurt revenue generation in the country.The Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said the Lower Chamber would continue to give priority to issues on improvement of the revenue base of the country.He spoke when the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omogui-Okauru, visited the House yesterday.He said: 'Recently I received information that a lot of waivers were granted to some companies in this country, I believe we must review our waiver-granting policies because we have continued to have budgets with high deficit. How do you bridge this gap while you are busy granting waivers on goods that ordinarily we produce' I use this opportunity to call on the Executive arm of government to review all our waiver policy and indeed our importation policy. We have been playing politics with issues of tax and wages. These are serious matters that we must stop playing politics with because the issue of revenue generation is critical to the economic development of any country.'On the need to discourage the importation of goods, which could be produced in the country, Tambuwal said: 'We allow all manner of goods into this country but I believe that we have to take a critical look at this. For example, we allow importation of tooth-picks and certain products into this country but if we disallow the importation of tooth-picks, our people can take advantage of that market and maximise it for the good of our youths in particular.' Earlier, Omogui-Okauru had asked the House to pay attention to issues of amending existing taxation laws to make way for better taxation system for the country.
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