BusinessDay 09 Feb 2018

Friday 09 February 2018
L-R: Elizabeth Adegite, ICAN past president; Olutoyin Olakunri, first female Chartered Accountant in Nigeria and past president
ICAN; Ann Uzoegbu, guest speaker, and Ismaila Zakari, ICAN president, at the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria
(SWAN) symposium on Restoring An Enduring Value Systems for our Nation, in Lagos yesterday.
Hubmart demonstrates confidence in economy, opens new retail outlet
Don’t reverse residency tax
rule, OGIRS tells NASS
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
Having considered
the socio-economic
benefits inherent
in the remittance
of tax, especially Pay-As-You-
Earn (PAYE) by employers
of labour to the state where
such workers reside instead
of where they work, Ogun
State Internal Revenue Service
(OGIRS) has urged the
National Assembly not to entertain
the proposed bill that
seeks to redefine Residency
Tax Rule.
The appeal not to entertain
proposed bill tagged, “Redefining
Residency Tax Rule,”
was made in Abeokuta during
a courtesy visit of members of
Chartered Institute of Taxation
of Nigeria (CITN) to the
OGIRS on Thursday.
Adekunle Adeosun, chairman
of OGIRS, requested the
National Assembly to have a
serious rethink over the bill
seeking the consideration
and debates on redefining
Residency Tax Rule, saying it
was always beneficial to the
economy and pushy to the
government to invest more
in critical infrastructure and
provision of essential services
tunity in Nigeria; it is the
biggest employer of labour
and we are happy to be in
Nigeria, which is a growing
country with young population,”
Murat Bektaslar, the
company’s managing director,
said during a media tour
of the retail facility that sits
on 740 square metres.
The Lekki outlet, which
is a collaborative effort between
the company and
Lenox Mall, is coming on
the heels of the successful
launch of the Ikeja outlet,
which also followed the success
recorded at its Victoria
Island outlet. The company
says it plans to open three
more outlets this year.
The new retail outlet has
been purposefully designed
to create an environment
that guarantees customers
if taxes were remitted to state
where workers live and not
work.
Adeosun, however, tasked
the CITN to help the Federal
Inland Revenue Service
(FIRS), Joint Tax Board and
OGIRS fight the move to redefine
existing Residency
Tax Rule, just as he requested
CITN to further create awareness
on tax payment in order
to encourage more people to
pay taxes.
He said, “We do need it,
there is a very poor awareness
and enlightenment on tax
payment in the country and it
is now clear to everybody that
we need to do more on awareness,
and government must
be transparent in tax collection
and should invest massively
in infrastructure and
provide essential services like
we are doing in Ogun State.
“People don’t trust government
because it seems
some are not transparent and
accountable to the people.
We must also tell people reasons
why they must file their
tax returns as and when due.
We must create awareness
on the incentives available
for prompt and right filing of
reports.”
a comprehensive shopping
experience and further enhances
Hubmart’s reputation
as one of the best destinations
for shoppers in the
country.
This new store is a firm
statement that the company
is in the retail business to
be accessible to her teeming
customers and, according
to Bektaslar, the success
recorded from patronage of
their other outlets in Victoria
Island and Ikeja was
a testament that their customers
have wholly embraced
their offerings.
“We have continuously
created an environment
where customers can find
everything they want under
one roof, get the best quality
of ultra-fresh produce, and
have a delightful, fulfilling
GSK partners paediatric association to create
awareness for vaccines, anti-microbial resistance
GSK Pharmaceuticals
Limited, in furtherance
of its commitment
towards creating
awareness about the
importance of prevention of
childhood diseases through
vaccination and the direct
link of Antimicrobial resistance
(AMR) to inappropriate
use of antibiotics, partnered
the Paediatric Association of
Nigeria at the UNAPSA-PAN
conference 2018, held recently
in Abuja.
The Paediatrics Association
of Nigeria and Union of
African Paediatrics Societies
Association put the conference,
which is the largest
gathering of paediatricians
in Africa, together with over
1,000 delegates from the
pharmaceutical and health
sectors present to deliberate
on the impact of deprivations
and inequity on the African
child, which was the theme
of the conference.
Omolaja Odunuga, medical
director, GSK Pharma,
among other representatives;
Goke Ewedairo, Olumide
Aniyikaiye discussed
extensively the company’s
effort in raising awareness
against and combating AMR.
Odunuga, during his address,
highlighted actions the
company had put in place to
ensure more patients get the
benefit of quality medication.
CHUKA UROKO
A
new entrant into
the Nigerian retail
business, Hubmart
Stores Limited, has
joined the league of investors
in the country whose
confidence in the country’s
economy remains unshaken.
This is despite the challenges
of the recent past and the difficulty
that defines the country’s
business environment.
The company is today
opening a new retail outlet
at the Lenox Mall located
on Admiralty Way, Lekki
Phase 1, bringing to three
the number of retail centres
it has opened in just three
years of business in Lagos,
Nigeria’s commercial nerve
centre.
“Retail is a good opporand
exciting shopping trip.
“We are creating a movement
– a fresh movement
and as you can see, our customers
are appreciative of
the efforts we make to ensure
all our products are served
fresh,” he said, explaining
that citing the mall in Lekki
was imperative because Lekki
had become a key commercial
hub in Lagos.
He noted that the working
and residential communities
within Lekki and its environs
made it imperative for the
store to register its presence
in the locality, adding that,
apart from some of the community
development efforts
embarked upon, the business
was poised to engage
and positively impact the local
community with the array
of initiatives in the pipeline.
He disclosed that part of
such measures include provision
of classic and access
portfolios for patients to help
them take maximum advantage
of the quality medication
available.
In his words, “Putting
patients first in everything
we do is paramount in what
we do. For GSK, how we do
things is just as important
as what we do. Our values
based culture is designed to
ensure we put patients and
customers interests first.”
The vaccines symposium
focused on prevention of
measles, mumps, rubella
and chicken pox through
vaccination. Richard Adegbola,
a professor, and Debasish
Saha, both from GSK
Vaccines headquarters in
Belgium, joined the Nigerian
team to rub minds with
paediatricians on ways to improve
the utilisation of vaccines
to help combat childhood
related diseases and
create a healthy nation.
The event also featured a
GSK digital exhibition booth,
a first-of-its-kind in the Nigerian
Pharma space, creating
a new user experience. The
exhibition booth provided
an opportunity for delegates
to learn about GSK’s quality
medicines, register, purchase
and order for products digitally.
C002D5556
In a move geared towards
eradicating fuel
queues that have resurfaced
in Nigeria’s major
cities, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) has programmed
to bring in two cargoes of
petrol per day for the rest
of February 2018, to boost
supply.
Each of the two cargoes
is 50 million litres, making
a total of 100 million litres
that will be brought in per
day for the rest of February,
to increase supply and
replenish strategic reserves.
A statement from the
corporation on Thursday
revealed that to enhance
supply, 45 million litres of
petrol was discharged from
ships into jetties across the
country yesterday.
Prior to the fresh 45 mil-
Bounce News App says
it is rewarding loyal
subscribers with an
all-expense paid
shopping trip to Dubai or a
trip to watch a live premiership
match.
Goodluck Ikporo, general
manager, Bounce News, said
users who access the news
app frequently also stand a
chance to win weekly prizes,
which include 750MB data
bundles, concert tickets and
smartphones.
The weekly winners will
be picked by random draw
every Friday, and their names
published on Mondays, exclusively
on the Bounce News
throughout the consumer
promo, which started in January,
Ikporo said.
The goal of the campaign
is to celebrate users and also
reward them for their support
since the platform was
launched less than a year ago,
he said, adding that the platform
has achieved a lot since
because it delivers relevant
stories tailored to empower
Edo State governor,
Godwin Obaseki,
has disclosed that
the state government
is finalising arrangements to
re-open the EdoJobs portal
on March 1, 2018.
In a statement on Thursday,
in Benin City, by the
special adviser to the governor
on media and communication
strategy, Crusoe
Osagie, the governor said
the reopening of the portal
would extend the window
of opportunities for more
youths to be captured in the
state’s jobs database.
The governor reassured
youths in the state of his administration’s
commitment
to fulfil his campaign prom-
BUSINESS DAY
7
NEWS
NNPC programmes 2 cargoes per
day to address supply concerns
HARRISON EDEH, Abuja
Bounce News to reward
loyal users with N4m trip
MABEL DIMMA
lion litres discharge, there
was 324 million litres of
petrol on land and 432 million
litres in marine storage,
making a total of 756 million
litres, enough to last for
22 days at 35 million daily
consumption rate.
The jetties that received
the 45 million litres shipments
include Nacj, Apapa;
Bop, Apapa; Techo Jetty,
Lagos; Dutchess, Oghara;
Vine Jetty, Calabar; Chipet
Jetty, Lagos, and ECM Jetty,
Calabar.
To ensure efficient distribution
of the product to
depots in the hinterland,
the Nigerian Pipeline and
Storage Company (NPSC), a
midstream subsidiary of the
NNPC, has been mandated
to fix relevant pipelines to
facilitate seamless pumping,
in addition to massive
trucking arrangement that
is in place.
consumers.
The promo closes at the
end of March, with a draw
where winners of the grand
prizes of shopping trip to
Dubai for two worth N4 million,
and an all-expenses trip
for two to watch a live premiership
match also worth N4
million, will be determined.
The campaign, which is one
of the biggest by any online
news platform in Nigeria, is exclusively
targeted at Nigerian
consumers who are 18 years
and above, and opens to new
and existing users.
To qualify, consumers
must download and install
the Bounce News app and become
frequent users. Existing
users are required to fill an entry
form within the app in order
to participate in the competition.
“Consumers need to
complete the above step and
in addition, use the Bounce
News app on their mobile
phone more than once a week
to qualify for a weekly prize,”
he said, adding that weekly
prizewinners are also eligible
for the grand prize at the end
of the campaign.
Edo re-opens job portal March 1
ise of creating 200,000 jobs
for the teeming unemployed
youths.
According to Obaseki,
“The reopening of the job
portal is to capture more
youths in the state, who
are to undergo employability
and capacity building
training. After their training,
these youths will be
matched with employers of
labours, who have indicated
interest in employing young
people.
“It is clear that we have
a crisis of youth unemployment
and we are making
frantic efforts to address it.
There are various options
the applicants on the jobs
portal can choose from.