….Tasks Govt On Fuel Price Hike, FX Rate Volatility
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has commended the Federal Government on its current fiscal drives to fully harmonise taxes being paid by manufacturing companies in the country in view of the benefits to the nation’s economy.
The President of the association, Chief Francis Meshioye, who endorsed the steps being taken by government to streamline real sector taxes, however, lamented that some of the recent fiscal policies, such as the removal of fuel subsidies, floating of the naira in the foreign exchange (FX) markets, and an increase in the monetary policy rate, were robbing off the potential gains of the harmonized taxes in the real sector.
The industrialist, who made these remarks during the 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Oyo/Osun/Ondo and Ekiti states branches of the association held at the MAN’s Secretariat in Ibadan, noted the positive impact of the infrastructure upgrade by the government in terms of the operating environment in the branches
Meshioye said: “The construction and rehabilitation of various roads in the four states, the harmonisation of various taxes to streamline payments that companies are to make, and the invitations to various committees and board meetings. I call on you once more to ensure that this relationship is sustained and deepened.
“It is in this regard that I call on Your Excellencies to domesticate Presidential Executive Order 003 to make it mandatory for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government in your states to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods. That way, local manufacturers will be encouraged, and this will create more jobs. In addition, all state governments should work in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure that the federal roads within the states and the ones linking them are rehabilitated/reconstructed to ease the movement of goods and persons.
“We will also be glad to see that the Oyo state government quickly rehabilitates the road networks in Oluyole and Egbeda Industrial Estates. We urge the state governments to prioritise the extension of the supply of electricity from the state-independent power plants to manufacturing companies within their states, as this will help ameliorate the current problem of epileptic power supply, high cost of power, and reduce the cost of production for the manufacturing companies that spend so much on diesel to run their factories”, he added.
The MAN President also urged state governments to prioritise the extension of electricity from state-independent power plants to manufacturing companies in the country to ameliorate the current problem of epileptic power supply, high cost of power, and reduce the cost of production for the manufacturing companies who spend so much on diesel to run their factories.
Similarly, he appealed to the Federal Government to make it mandatory for ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) of government to patronise Made-in-Nigeria goods in their states to encourage local manufacturers.
This is even as he urged all state governments to work in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure that federal roads within their states and the ones linking them were upgraded to ease the movement of goods and persons.
Earlier in his speech, the outgoing chairman of the Oyo/Osun/Ondo and Ekiti state branches of the association, Mr. Lanre Popoola, explained that the meeting was organised to discuss the issues affecting industries with the intention of proffering solutions to them and by so doing, improve productivity at reduced costs.
He advised that Nigerian governments must take proactive measures to promote non-oil exports, secure steady foreign direct investment and remittance inflows, promote and prioritise consumption of locally produced goods, and focus on reforming regulations to allow states, corporations, and individuals to manage their own power generation and distribution for cleaner and stable power supply to industries nationwide.
