BY DAVID ADUGE-ANI, ABUJA
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike said the administration would soon stop tax payment by Diplomatic Missions in the nation’s capital.
Wike, who disclosed this when he received the visiting Ambassador of Cote D’Ivoire to Nigeria, His Excellency, Ambassador Kalilou Traore in his office on Wednesday, said the gesture is meant to reciprocate tax exemptions placed on Nigerian’s Diplomatic Missions in other parts of the world.
“Let me also say that the issue of tax will be waived. I will call the authority that is responsible for cooperating with you on this issue.
I know that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told me that the same thing applies to them in the other countries where they operate. So, that will not be an issue”.
He called for increased cooperation among African countries to enhance the development of the continent, noting that greater cooperation among African countries would usher in prosperity and bring about the development of the continent.
The minister also stressed the need for cooperation among ECOWAS countries, assuring that the FCT administration would continue to work to strengthen its relationship with Cote D’Ivoire.
According to him, “There is a need for us to cooperate among African countries and among ECOWAS countries to usher in economic growth and prosperity”.
We will continue to strengthen our relationship. Luckily our President is the Chairman of ECOWAS. So, we will do everything possible to see that our relationship is smooth and cordial in such a way that there will be a symbiotic relationship.”
He commended the efforts of Cote ’D’Ivoire’s diplomatic mission to develop its land in the FCT, explaining that he had asked for the development of abandoned and uncompleted structures in the FCT for security reasons.
Speaking earlier, the Ambassador of Cote D’Ivoire to Nigeria, H.E. Ambassador Kalilou Traore, said he was on a visit to inform the FCT Minister about the intention of the Embassy to commence the development of its land in Maitama District, in line with the directive of the FCT Administration to develop the land within a given timeframe.
The Envoy also expressed the mission’s desire to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Nigeria – the biggest country in the African continent and Cote D’Ivoire -the biggest among Francophone countries in Africa.