Some of the objectives of the proposed Income Tax (Transfer pricing) Regulations, 2012 as published by the Federal Inland Revenue Service in pursuance of the powers conferred on it by Section 61 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act include the provision to the Nigerian tax authorities, tools to fight tax evasion, which is usually promoted through over or under–pricing of transactions between associated enterprises not adhering to the arm’s length tax principle.

This is an article on Nigerian Constitution. - From the inception of its current Constitution in 1999, Nigeria has been in search of a new one to put its federal system and general governmental structures in a more satisfactory form. The country was on the verge of complete disintegration when General Sani Abacha suddenly died on June 8, 1998, thus ending his five years of brutal and nihilist dictatorship.

Withholding Tax is a mandatory advance tax payment which is deducted and withheld from any income or disbursement due to a taxable person, for onward remittance to the relevant tax or government collecting authority, against a final tax liability. This advance tax payment can be set-off against the final tax obligation(s) of the taxable person subject to such person applying for and obtaining the Withholding Tax Credit Notes in respect of each advance tax withheld and remitted.

The general perception that dormant companies are not liable to pay any tax at all as they are not engaged in any trade or business is not correct. As a tax-avoidance measure, Minimum Tax is charged on the higher amounts of such a dormant company’s gross profit, or its net assets, or its paid-up share capital, or its turnover, at the rates stated in this article. The only exemptions to this rule are as also stated in this article.

Constitutional Law - International Passport: Power of Minister of Internal Affairs - Constitutional Law - Fundamental Human Rights: Extent of the powers of State Security Service - Constitutional Law - Fundamental Human Right: Freedom of Movement - Right of Nigerian Citizen to hold International Passport: Whether Absolute. The Supreme Court: Whither the Principles:

Partnership is one of the most common forms of establishing a business in Nigeria. The culture of sustaining long-term Partnerships that thrives and outlive their original partners have however remained mostly a mirage in Nigeria. The Lagos State Partnership Law describes a Partnership to be the relationship which exists between people, carrying on business otherwise than as a limited liability company or incorporated trustees, with the sole objective of making and sharing profits.

International arbitration: substantive law, procedural law and arbitration rules in the context of the United Kingdom Arbitration Act 1996. International arbitration: substantive law, procedural law and Arbitration Rules in the context of the Arbitration Act 1996. By: Mr. Femi D. Ojumu*

Legal Alert – May 2012 – Admissibility of Electronic Evidence - The inestimable benefits of the various advancements in information and communication technologies have until the enactment of the new Evidence Act in 2011 remained a matter of much debate and judicial uncertainty. The enactment of the Evidence Act, 2011 has attempted to correct some of the difficulties that the admissibility of electronically generated evidence do encounter in Nigerian Courts.

The Nigerian Constitution.

A proper understanding of the various federal, state and local government licensing and regulatory regimes in the Hotels, Hospitality and Tourism markets in Nigeria is critical to the execution and substance of a viable business plan in any of these sectors. This Legal Alert is our contribution to your achieving this objective. - Legal Alert – April 2012 – Hotels & Tourism Licensing and Regulatory Regimes

Pragmantic implications, applications & construction of the triplet provisions of section 143, 144 and 145 of the 1999 constitution vis a vis Nigerian constitutional democracy. - By Kayode Ajulo*

1. Introduction and Conceptual Clarifications - Human Rights - To give a generally accepted definition may be difficult to grasp but the whole idea of the concept is well known. Human rights are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because he or she is a human being.

Audit Committees are part of internal audit mechanisms created by both public and private companies to ensure financial regulatory and risk management compliance of public and private companies to laid down financial laws and practices.

The Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2011 has among other things consolidated all the personal income tax reliefs or allowances into one consolidated tax allowance/relief of 21% of an individual's gross annual income. The residue of a person's income is then liable to a graduating personal income tax charge of between 7% to 24% per annum. The rules concerning expatriate income earned from businesses in Nigeria has also changed.

It is a criminal offense, under Nigerian law, for any person to commit, threaten, promote, fund, assist or facilitate any act preparatory to or in furtherance of, or the actual execution of any act(s) of terrorism. It is also a criminal offense for any person or group of persons to seize, detain or attempt to seize or detain, or threaten to kill or injure another person (or property) as a basis to induce the release of a terrorist.

The Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 provides for comprehensive provisions to prohibit the financing of terrorism, the laundering of the proceeds of a crime or of any illegal activity. This Law further provides for a wide range of penalties and expands the scope of the supervisory and regulatory authorities in Nigeria to combat money laundering offenses. The fact that a money laundering offense was committed in different jurisdictions or different parts of the world is no longer relevant.

A Sovereign Investment Authority (Establish, Etc.) Act, 2011 has established for Nigeria a Sovereign Investment Authority. This Authority is charged to receive, manage and invest in diversified portfolios the excess of the medium and long term revenue of the Federal, States, Local Governments and Area Councils. The Proceeds of these investments are statutorily required to create a savings base for the country, develop infrastructure that will attract local and foreign direct investments.

Calls have been made to Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to remind it of its statutory duties regarding removal of wrecked ships.

Section 251(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Federal High Court to hear and determine admiralty disputes in Nigeria.

The objective of the Cabotage Act in Nigeria is principally to reserve domestic coastal trade (“cabotage or cabotage trade”) within Nigerian Coastal and Inland Waters to vessels built and registered in Nigeria, wholly owned and wholly manned by Nigerian citizens.

The Industrial Property Commission bill has significantly reduced the duration required for trademark renewal.

Nigeria is endowed with numerous mineral resources such as talc, iron ore, bitumen, gold, rock salt, gypsum, lead/zinc, coal, gemstones, kaolin, tantalite, bentonite and baryte located in different parts of the country in commercial quantity

Stakeholders in Information and Communication sector recently reiterated their commitment to the passage of the anti-cyber crime bill into law.

A patent is usually a form of market monopoly granted to the inventors by a government authority as an incentive to invent or innovate. This grant is usually for the period of 20 years.

Nigeria had in the past years engaged in Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for the exploration of her petroleum resources.

Part XIII of the Investment and Securities (ISA) 2007 creates collective investment schemes in Nigeria.

Capital Gains Tax accrues on an actual year basis.

The Nigerian Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2002 (MLPA) was enacted at a period when money laundering was synonymous with drug trafficking.

In the aftermath of the meltdown of Nigeria’s capital market, the absence of strong regulatory framework has been recognized as one of the contributory factors in the unusual downturn in the capital market.

The effects of oil spills on human and aquatic life remains so grievous and almost irreparable if not properly handled. Effective clean-ups and reclamations of affected areas usually take long time and requires much effort and consistency.

The recent direction by the Ministry of Information and Communications to the effect that all mobile telecoms operators selling new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards must obtain the data of prospective subscribers and that all previously obtained SIM cards must be registered without delay is no doubt a good policy aimed at reducing the incidents of technology related crimes.

The deplorable state of infrastructure at both the international and domestic airports in Nigeria has given rise to a call by all and sundry for an immediate radical revamp of the aviation industry.

The emergence of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Establishment Act may bring smile to the faces of corporate tax payers if the provision that introduces tax refund will be given the necessary push and attention.

Under Section (5) of the Trademarks Act of Nigeria, the right of a proprietor of a registered trademark is deemed to be infringed by any person who, not being the proprietor of the trademark or a registered user thereof, using it by way of permitted use....

The Nigerian Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2002 (MLPA) was enacted at a period when money laundering was synonymous with drug trafficking. Consequently, the law sought basically to prohibit gains obtained from narcotic drugs and other psychotropic substances.

The proposal to establish Market-makers in Nigeria has not taken off two years after SEC approval. July 2010 Vol. 23: Issue 7

The full extent of the powers of the CBN Governor and the CBN itself to regulate banks registered in Nigeria is contained in two pieces of legislation: the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, and BOFIA, respectively. However, whether these pieces of legislation authorize the CBN Governor to takeover and sell off the banks is a matter of serious legal doubt.

In its very opening section, the 1999 Constitution makes the continuity of constitutional government the basis of the system of government in Nigeria.

Indeed, one of the three issues considered the “pillars” upon which upstream oil and gas investments are based is the fiscal regime of the host State. In other words, an investor in an international petroleum transaction intending to invest in a petroleum regime would conduct its due diligence before committing risk capital by looking at, amongst other things, the issue of ‘government take’ versus ‘ investor take’.

The Resolution passed by each House of the National Assembly on February 09, 2010 that the Vice-President should act as President was constitutional. It was passed more than two months after President Umar Musa Yar’Adua had left the country for, or been taken to, Saudi Arabia on health grounds.

The constitutional crisis which has rocked the nation for over two months now arose because President Yar’Adua went, or was taken, to Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009 on health grounds without sending to the National Assembly, as envisaged in section 145 of the Constitution, a declaration concerning his impending absence from office.

These are interesting times in the West African Emergent Cretaceous Petroleum Play Fairway. This is no less so in the Nigeria’s petroleum regime for a couple of reasons, chief amongst which are the current review of the Petroleum Industry legal and regulatory regime and the global economic melt-down.

This article seeks to consider the regulatory framework that governs corporate immigration in Nigeria. This article’s goal is not to provide new ground breaking research, but to provide someone unfamiliar with corporate Immigration laws in Nigeria with all of the most current information in an accessible and easy to read format.

The legal requirements for the incorporation of substantive Companies, subsidiaries and holding companies are contained in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) Cap 59 LFN1990. They are mentioned hereunder as:

Immigration law in Nigeria is primarily governed by the Immigration Act Cap 171, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and the regulations promulgated by the Minister for Internal Affairs. The powers of the Minister of Internal Affairs are delegated to the Comptroller General of Immigration who is charge of Nigeria Immigration Service under Section 5 of the Immigration Act.

The objective of this article is to address the generic problems facing local lawyers, foreign lawyers and corporations involved in international litigations in Africa. Any local counsel or litigant, foreign counsel or litigant, General or In-house Counsel to a Corporation, local and foreign Government agency or third party may become a party to litigation in Africa at any time of any transaction where the subject matter of suit occured in Africa or either of the parties are based in Africa.

In any civil or commercial action, for a court to exercise jurisdiction on a matter, it must be established that adequate notice of the action or the originating processes were served through the proper means or channel. Failure to adhere to the rules or laws that guide the service of legal process would nullify the proceedings and rob the court of jurisdiction to act on the matter particularly when the successful party seeks to enforce the foreign judgment in Nigeria.

The democracy as I have been taught, as I have been opportune to see being practice universally and as backed by plethora of judicial authorities is the complete application of rule of law and human rights is any given society.

The development of the law, legal events and time have been complimentary for centuries. Every standard law will require updating after the occurence of influential events especially comparative global trends in corporate law and practices. One of such laws is the Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 which remains the most single significant corporate law in Nigeria. Some of the required updating are new business laws, new corporate regulatory practices, corporate ethics, etc...

The Federal Executive Council on March 11, 2009, came out with its position on the recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committee headed by retired Chief Justice Muhammed Uwais. The Council accepted some of those recommendations while rejecting others (The Punch, March 12, 2009).