Embark on programmes implementation, APBN tells Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

The President of the National Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Mr Foluso Fasoto, on Tuesday tasked the new administration to embark on immediate implementation of its key programmes.

Fasoto said this at the APBN press briefing held in Lagos on the body’s agenda for the President Buhari admnistration .

He urged President Buhari to swing into action immediately and charged him to ensure total eradication of corruption in the nation’s public life.

“If there is any issue in which Nigerians have a consensus, it is the notion that corruption must be eleminated from our system.

“The battle must be on all fronts and executed with courage and unflagging commitment, otherwise the much-trumpeted war on corruption would just end up like the previous wars.

“To get the battle off the ground, we need to strengthen all our democratic institutions including the police and the court to work in synergy.

“There must not be any sacred cow in this mortal battle to save the nation,” he said.

Fasoto tasked President Buhari to invest more in Nigerian Insurance and Pension sectors noting that they still contribute less than one per cent into the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

He said though the value of pension was put at N3.8 trillion as at Oct 2013, it is feared that th fund might experience a down turn because of outdated regulations governing the operations of the country’s Pension Fund Administrators.

The president also noted that the country’s National Tax Policy (NTP) was yet to be implemented although it had been adopted by both National Executive Council and National Economic Council.

“This document would move the entire tax system away from its current position to an enviable level as is the case of developed economy.

“Some of positive effects is movement from Direct Taxation to Indirect Taxation thereby reducing issues relating to tax evasion and the elimination of multiple taxes among others.”

Fasoto also called for the refocussing of the nation’s education curriculum aimed at imparting more on knowledge and technical skill acquisition.

“It must also incorporate a vocational skill and entrepreneurial component. Government must upgrade and fund adequately all tertiary institutions ” he said.

NAN reports APBN came to existence1983 and constituted of over 28 professional bodies.