Georgian ex-PM canvasses tax revenue increase in Nigeria

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Nika Gilauri

‘Nation ranked third globally in cyber crimes’

Former Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Nika Gilauri, has said that Nigeria needs to increase tax revenue generation.He said Nigerian economy could improve, as there are lots of investments to be made in the country.Gilauri stated this yesterday at the ongoing 2017 yearly general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.

The former Prime Minister, who noted that Nigeria’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) income rate of one to six per cent was significantly low, said the Nigerian economy could be reformed in three ways, namely: Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Tax to GDP income and fighting corruption.

Gilauri, who used his country as a model that had gained notoriety for corruption and was able to become one of the least corrupt countries in the world, said if his country could achieve that feat, it possible for Nigeria.

He said: “You cannot expect a civil servant to behave properly if he is not paid properly. We introduced a performance-based bonus system into the Georgian civil service,” he said.

Besides, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said Nigeria currently ranks third globally in perpetuation of cyber crimes behind the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (U.S.).

Danbatta, who also stated this at one of the sessions of the event sub-themed “The Business of Cyber Law, Internet Policy and Privacy Rights,” said there are 91.6 million Internet users in Nigeria.

He said: “Nigeria ranks 169th out of 199 on the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings. We are in a middle of a revolution and the rise of what we call the networked society. The NCC stipulates the laws of engagement that will make the cyberspace safe and ensure the confidence as well as the safety of the cyberspace.”

Other panelists, who spoke, include the Chief Transformation Officer of MTN Communications, Mr. Bayo Adekanmi; Legal counsel of Chocolate City Group, Ibikun Abidoye; Associate Solicitor of Cooley LLP, a UK-based law firm, Sascha Grimme, and Managing Director of Premier Lotto, also known as ‘Baba Ijebu,’ Mr. Bisi Adebutu.

Adebutu said: “The cyber laws are not favourable to our business. Premier Lotto ranks as the fourth most visited site in the country. We have difficulties in verifying or identifying the owner of cards used to transact business. In Nigeria, the business of giving is just emerging and it is important that we respect the privacy of our clients when they interact with us through the use of user-names and passwords.”

Grimme said there were challenges in identifying perpetuators of cybercrimes and that even when identified, there had been instances where they stay in different jurisdictions, which make prosecution difficult.