Group says inclusion of British/American tobacco in export scheme is fraudulent

• "We believe BATN was favoured unduly and Nigerians now demand to know the truth.”

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has asked the Senate to extend the probe of utilization of Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Scheme in the agriculture sector to the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN).

In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN said the demand for an extension of the investigations to BATN is based on a conviction that the criteria for the inclusion of BATN in the EEG scheme was fraudulent and must be immediately reviewed to save the nation from subsidizing the production and marketing of killer products.

The EEG is a cash inducement designed to assist Nigerian firms expand the volume and value of their exports, diversify export markets and become more competitive in the international market.

"We believe BATN was favoured unduly and Nigerians now demand to know the truth,” said Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability & Administration.

“If the expansion grant was conceived as an incentive to assist Nigerian firms expand the volume and value of their exports, then the summoned ministers must explain to the Senate and Nigerians how a company whose products opened the pathway for the harvest of deaths the nation is reaping today was certified worthy of the grants in the first place,” Mr. Oluwafemi added.

The Senate Committee on Investments, last Thursday, invited Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, and her Trade and Investments counterpart, Olusegun Aganga over EEG grants disbursed in the agricultural sector. 

Nenadi Usman, the Chairman of the committee, issued the summons at an interactive session with members of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria who had petitioned the committee over several charges they were allegedly made to pay in respect to export of their commodities by the Nigeria Customs Service.

“While we commend the Senate for this move, we are demanding that the EEG investigations be far-reaching enough to torchlight the parameters for inclusion of BATN in the scheme because we are convinced that a company that manufactures products that kills its consumers does not qualify to be listed as a beneficiary of the scheme," noted Mr. Oluwafemi. 

While calling on the present administration to demonstrate commitment to the "wellness of Nigerians" by signing the National Tobacco Control Bill into law; the group further asked the government to withdraw the "generous" tax holidays and other incentives offered BATN.

“We have said it time and again that through this scheme the Nigerian people continue to subsidize BATN even at the cost of their health and lives. The inclusion of the company in the scheme is totally unacceptable and must be reviewed immediately,” Mr. Oluwafemi said.

“Our position remains clear and unchanged: BATN should be removed from the list of companies benefiting from EEG and made to forfeit previous funding under the scheme,” he added.

Ben Ezeamalu 

It’s sad the Bill isn’t law yet, say environmentalists

The  Environmental Rights Action (ERA), yesterday said it was sad that the the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) is yet to be signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan six months after the National Assembly passed it.

Its Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, said there is the likelihood the Bill may not have gotten to the President’s desk for signature.

Oluwafemi, who spoke yesterday at a press briefing in Lagos, said President Jonathan would be mandated within 30 days to either sign the Bill into law or return it to the National Assembly with cogent reasons why it was rejected. He said the counting would start from the day it got to his table. “When it is returned by the President, if that is the case, two-third majority of the National Assembly can veto it to become a law,” he added.

He said the hopes of many Nigerians who had expected the President to sign the Bill before the United Nations high-level meeting in New York on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), was dashed. “At that meeting, many heads of states and government made a commitment towards eradicating the risk factors of NCD, one of which is tobacco use,” he added.

He said the government’s action showed it was not responsive to the health of the people, thereby lacking commitment to them. “Our leaders failed to show the world that the country is ready and determined to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by providing the people with a safe and clean environment through comprehensive tobacco control legislation.

“Nigeria has failed to set a leadership role for the rest of Africa by taking preventive measures on the tobacco epidemic. It did not complete the work on the NTCB sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora,” Oluwafemi said.
He urged the Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to the President, Senator Joy Emordi and other legislators to expedite the process of the Bill and forward it to the President immediately.

SOURCE: Wale Adepoju via The Nation