The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs) and Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) to submit monthly returns not later than seven days after the end of every month.
CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director, Payments System Management Department, Oladimeji Taiwo to PSPs, on connectivity to PTSAs, on Friday.
According to the apex bank, in order to achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, it had in August 2011, granted a PTSA licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).
It also noted that as part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channeling all Point of Sale (PoS) transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).
It added: “In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs among other things as follows: All PTSPs must ensure that their PoS devices and applications are configured to route transactions through any PTSA, as directed by the Acquirer; All PTSPs shall submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing the number of merchants and agents they manage, along with the PTSA services used to route the corresponding transactions.
“Each PTSA is required to submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing all transactions processed through their platforms: The returns mentioned in items (5) and (6) above are expected to be submitted to the Director, Payments System Management Department, not later than seven (7) days after the end of each month.
“Consequently, you are hereby directed to commence regularisation with the PTSAs and notify the CBN in writing to confirm compliance, within 30 days from the date of this Circular”.

As controversy trails alleged issuance of bunkering permit by the Nigerian Navy, following stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry describing it as an aberration, the Nigerian Navy has clarified issues surrounding the matter.
Speaking at the Lagos International Maritime Week, Commodore Igbani Agwu, General Manager, Planning of the Nigerian Navy, said the Navy had to come to issuance of bunkering permit because the space had to be regulated due to the unwholesome activities being experienced in that sector.
Agwu also said the Navy had to come into the issuance of bunkering permit because Nigeria is the only country in the world where oil theft occurs, hence the Naval intervention.
However, some stakeholders who spoke on the matter debunked the claims by the Navy, saying that crude oil theft occurs all over the world but that the Navies of other countries are not involved in the commercial activities of their shipping industries.
A member of the Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA), who pleaded anonymity, said Nigerian Navy’s involvement in the issuance of bunkering permit can only be permissible in Nigeria because of the entrenched interest the Navy, as an institution, has in commercial shipping activities.
The NISA member also said that oil theft takes place in Mexico, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Cameroon, Sudan and other parts of the world.
Also commenting, the President of the Nigerian Master Mariners Association, Capt Tajudeen Alao, argued that before the Nigerian Navy started the issuance of bunkering permit, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCD) was solely in charge of such issuance.
Alao explained that the Navy got involved because of the abuse of the entire process of issuing bunkering permits and approvals, adding that the Navy is also put in charge of economic breaches on the nation’s waters.
He said: “The process of issuing bunkering approval is not an easy procedure. The approval is first given to the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), who in turn sends the approval to the Headquarters of the Nigerian Navy in Abuja before permit is finally granted to the applicant,
“I agree that there is oil theft in some parts of the world, but our own situation is worse than what is obtainable elsewhere.
“All those areas you just mentioned do not have creeks like we have in Nigeria. Even with the kind of measure the government has put in place, oil theft is still going on, oil pipelines are still being broken.
“Crude oil theft is an international crime, because it is big business and the people involved are ready to invest anything, money, blackmail in order to achieve their aim’’.

A statistical data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Google, Netflix, Facebook and other foreign companies operating in Nigeria paid N2.55trillion in taxes to the Federal Government in the first six months of 2024.
This amount, according to the statistics, represents an increase of 158.76 per cent from N985.27billion collected in the preceding period of 2023, and the figure includes Company Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had earlier disclosed that the CIT is a 30 per cent tax imposed on companies’ profit, and VAT is a 7.5 per cent consumption tax paid when goods are purchased, and services are rendered and borne by the final consumer.
In 2020, the Federal Government had indicated plans to begin tax collection from foreign digital service providers offering services and earning revenue in naira due to its high acceptance by the Nigerian populace.
Some of these service providers, which are video streaming sites, social media platforms, and companies that offer downloads of digital content, are expected to pay digital tax to the FIRS.
Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, among others, which have been operating without a physical office in Nigeria, offer digital video and advertising services to Nigerians.
Also, in January 2022, the Federal Government disclosed that it would charge offshore companies providing digital services to local customers in Nigeria a six per cent tax on turnover as provided in the 2021 Finance Act.
A breakdown of the reports showed that the companies paid N1.72trillion as CIT while N831.47billion was collected as VAT between January and June 2024.
On a quarterly basis, Nigeria’s earnings from CIT increased by 87.2 per cent from N598.13billion in first quarter to N1.12trillion in the second quarter.
This has revealed that the amount was the highest sum paid by the companies, contributing more than 45.3 per cent to the N2.4trillion collected in the second quarter.
A breakdown of VAT showed that Nigeria earned N435.73billion in Q1 and N395.74billion in Q2, marking a reduction of N39.99billion.
Recall that the Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, had recently revealed that the Federal Government’s revenue for the first quarter of 2024 increased to N9.1trillion, more than doubling the amount recorded in 2023 without increasing taxes.

Corlins Walter