Business
FIRS Rakes In N4.178tr From Taxes
The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Mamman Nami yesterday said the agency has raked in N4.178trillion revenue out of the N4. 239trillion target it set for itself between January and October.
He also claimed that he inherited N38billion debts from his predecessor, Mr. Babatunde Fowler which included about N20billion official debts and N18billion unofficial.
He explained that it is the core mandate of the FIRS to collect Stamp Duties, adding that the first tax introduced in 1904 by the British colonial masters was Stamp Duties.
Nami, who made the clarifications in a chat with some media chiefs in Abuja, said the FIRS was not usurping the powers of any agency.
He expressed optimism that the agency should be able to exceed the N5. 076trillion tax receipts for 2020
He said: “As at October, we have realised about N4.178trillion out of our target of N4.230trillion. This translates to about 98 per cent or approximately 99per cent.
“All things being equal, we should be able to exceed our target of N5.076 trillion by the end of 2020.”
On the allegation that his predecessors could not meet revenue target, he said: “I don’t think that is correct. I remember former Executive Chairman, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru and her successor, Kabiru Mashi met their targets and even exceeded them. But since they left office, nobody has come in to ensure that this type of performance is sustained.
“What we have done as a team, I don’t want to give myself credit because they are fantastic, is to leverage their experience of about 30 years, to see that we come up with strategies that will move tax administration forward. And one of the things we have done is to ensure that we deploy technology,” he explained.
He said the FIRS under him inherited about N38billion debts officially and unofficially.
He said: “We actually met a lot of debts but like someone said, service is a growing concern. What we met was about N20billion and what we have prioritized is paying them by installment. I think as it is today, we have gone past 50 per cent. That is what we saw officially.
“Unofficially, we met a debt of about N18 billion which was borrowed from our Special Project Account. Today, I think we have refunded about N11billion to that account,” he said.
Nami insisted that it is the prerogative of the FIRS to collect Stamp Duty because it is a tax introduced to the country in 1904 by the colonial masters.
“When you talk of Stamp Duty, we have stated our core mandate and if you define Stamp Duty, you will now realise that we are not usurping anybody’s powers. It is somebody who wanted to take our powers from us.
“If our responsibility as a revenue generating unit is to assess, collect and account for tax, it will be unfair for any agency of government to now say that it wants to collect tax irrespective of the way the tax is called.
”I want you to also remember that the first tax introduced in Nigeria by the colonial masters in 1904 was Stamp Duty. If this was the first tax and if somebody is coming in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 to say that this person or agency should administer this, I think it should be strange to all of us,” Nami said, adding that the FIRS was not “sleeping over tax evasion” because it is a serious crime being committed by big men in the society.
He said some service providers have been uncovered in Lagos for not remitting Value Added Tax (VAT) running into billions of naira.
The FIRS chief said: “Tax evasion is a very serious crime; it is a thing that worries us a lot. This is why we have a department in the Enforcement Support Group called Special Crime Department. We are actually not sleeping over it; we are not trying to ignore the fact that there are big men in this country that are evading taxes
“But from the way we are going, we have what we call multiplier effects even in business investment. We are a typical investment country, so it is one thing that leads to another.
“What I have done is to empower Enforcement Support Group to leverage technology and secondly other stakeholders’ collaboration for information sharing.
“We just concluded one investigation in Lagos. That was why I hid myself in Lagos for one week. We discovered that there are service providers, let me not be specific, that work for some of our taxpayers but they collect VAT and they do not remit.
“I can assure you that there are people that are so big in this country but assessments have been raised in billions of naira and sent to them. Like I said, it is an indirect tax regime that we are pursuing. We told them that they are only agents, it has got nothing to do with their income, it has nothing to do with the profits they made for rendering these services.
“They have earned 100 per cent of their income and something (VAT) that is added on top to bring to the FIRS, they collected and kept.
“So, what we did was to attach the invoice for such organisations and asked them to give us the money. They know they cannot come near us, we won’t tolerate such things. And it is as a result of that the revenue figure continues to increase.”
Business
NASS Engages Agric Minister On Food Crisis
The National Assembly through its joint committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development has engaged the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on an urgent solution to food inflation bedeviling the country.
The committee chaired by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central), at an interface with the Minister, interrogated him on plans being put in place to arrest high cost of food prices in the country and make it affordable and available to the poor masses.
In his response, the Minister said the Federal Government has commenced distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to some focal points of state capitals nationwide.
“We have received directive and approval from Mr. President to distribute for immediate impact 42,000 metric tons of assorted grains free of charge to the Nigerian population.
“This was received in mid-February, as we are speaking, we have a record of the distribution being carried out, but I will want to plead with the honorable house and distinguished senators that some of the movements can’t be made public but a lot of states have started receiving their grains.
“We are distributing to state capitals in the first instance as you all are aware of the risk involved in the vandalism of foodstuff so we are working with the office of the national security adviser and other national security agencies.
“Furthermore, 58,500 metric tonnes of milled rice from mega rice millers will also be released into the market for stabilisation”, he said.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the interactive session, Senator Mustapha expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the federal government.
He said: “From our interactive session, we are on the other side of the parliament; we are fully in the picture of what is happening, we are convinced that the steps being taken by the federal government are in the right direction.
“All we did again is to further emphasise on the need for certain things to be done on time, I think from this collaborative approach by the grace of God, Nigerians will have a better feel of the government policy on food security”.
Business
Obj Harps On Cheap Credit, Policy Consistency For Food Production
Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the government to provide cheap credit and ensure policy consistency to enable farmers increase food production in the country.
The former President made the call as food inflation and nutrition security concerns grow in Africa’s most populous country.
Obasanjo’s made the call at the 9th Agrofood & Plastprintpack conference in Lagos recently, where he said farmers in the country were yearning for consistency in policy and single-digit interest loans to drive growth in the sector and attain food security.
“Policy sustainability and predictability is what farmers want. It helps them to plan. Availability of finance is also what farmers want. They cannot survive on the double digital interest rate”, Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, said at the conference.
According to him, food and nutrition security start with availability, then affordability by ensuring that everyone who needs food can get it.
He noted that food was one of the major imperatives in life, adding that “there cannot be food without agriculture and agribusiness”.
Obasanjo further stressed the importance of agriculture in changing the fortunes of the economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food security and other spin-offs.
He noted that agriculture must be made attractive to the country’s teeming youth population, saying this would address the rising unemployment, worsening insecurity and youth migration through the Mediterranean.
“We have to make agriculture attractive to the youths. We have to think within and outside the box to make it attractive to the youths so they are willing to get their hands dirty and feet wet”, he advised.
He continued that “Part of the security issue is owing to our inability to get them engaged. The need for agro-food and agribusiness is for food security, employment, wealth creation and income generation, particularly foreign exchange”.
Speaking also, Wouter Plom, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said his country had faced challenges similar to those Nigeria confronts – feeding a growing population with limited resources.
He said as partners with a joint vision, the Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agricultural sector was one of the prominent drivers for economic growth.
He noted that the Netherlands has further strengthened its partnership with Nigeria to boost the agriculture sector in three main areas- economic growth, improved diets and youth employment.
The ambassador noted that all the challenges in driving growth through the sector, improving diets and tackling unemployment can be addressed when food production is efficient.
Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, said with more investment in agro-food & plastprintpack solutions, products and technologies, brighter days were ahead for Nigeria’s agriculture.
Business
Abuja Farmers, Others Lose N12bn To Ginger Disease
The Federal Government, has confirmed the outbreak of ginger blight epidemic in four States in Nigeria, saying ginger farmers have lost over N12 billion due to the disease.
The government disclosed this at the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja, revealing that the fungal disease had inflicted significant damage on ginger farms in Kaduna, Nassarawa Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the blight had caused billions of naira in losses, impacting not only the livelihoods of farmers, but also Nigeria’s position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer.
“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.
“Furthermore, considering that over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land”, he stated.
Abdullahi, however, stated that the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6bn recovery package for affected farmers in ginger-producing areas.
He said the ginger blight epidemic served as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness in safeguarding agricultural resources, adding that by investing in research, extension services and farmer support systems, “we can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector”.
On his part, the Chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, said there was no doubt that the blight on ginger had negatively affected the Gross Domestic Product earnings from this subsector.
“It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects”, he stated.
Abdullahi assured the minister of the commitment of the team to salvage the situation, as he pleaded with the minister to give the committee the power to co-opt members that would add value to the task force to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
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