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Reps To Investigate Abuse Of Tax Waivers
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has strongly denounced the abuse of tax incentives and waivers, categorizing them as acts of economic sabotage that must be halted.
The Speaker made these remarks yesterday during the inauguration of the Ad-hoc committee tasked with investigating allegations of tax incentive abuse, tax breaks, and tax waivers by public institutions and companies benefiting from such incentives.
The Speaker, represented by the leader of the House, Julius Ihonvbare, conveyed that the House’s investigation aimed to curtail this economic sabotage and ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness within the tax system.
Tax incentives, he stressed, constitute a vital governmental tool for fostering economic growth, attracting investments, and stimulating job creation.
He further emphasized the need to ensure that these incentives, provided by the government, are appropriately employed and not subject to misuse or exploitation.
He said, “The allegations brought before the House suggest that certain public institutions and companies may be exploiting these incentives for personal gain or to evade their tax obligations”.
He charged the committee, “In carrying out this investigation, the committee is required to thoroughly investigate these allegations and provide recommendations for necessary sanctions and reforms.
“Endeavor to find out whether the beneficiaries of these tax incentives have lived up to the conditions attached to them and if they have fulfilled their obligations to the Nigerian people as required.
“Your mandate will be to examine the extent of the alleged abuse by public institutions and organisations, review relevant legislation, policies, and regulations governing these incentives to identify any loopholes or weaknesses that may have contributed to the alleged abuse”.
The speaker added, “The purpose of this investigation is to end all forms of economic sabotage and ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in our tax system.
“I therefore call on all relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, public institutions, and companies benefitting from tax incentives, to cooperate fully with the committee’s investigation for the House to have a full understanding of the tax system with a view of taking appropriate legislative actions.”
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Abubakar Makki, underscored the pivotal role taxes play in funding developmental initiatives.
He expounded that insufficient tax revenue, leakages, or systemic infractions lead to reduced tax inflow, prompting the government to resort to borrowing, which can have adverse consequences for national development.
He said “abuses of tax incentives by the supposed beneficiaries and the statutory institutions meant to regulate the tax regime could push the government into fiscal contraints.
“While tax incentives are granted to encourage businesses to stand well and be strong enough to contribute to the economy, its abuse creates distortions in fiscal and monetary policy management.
“As Nigeria experiences dwindling oil revenue and public debt approaches prohibitive levels amidst allegations of abuse of tax incentives, there is the need to know the scope of tax incentives and the possible existence of abuses to enable proper administration of the tax breaks, waivers and incentives.”
Makki said the investigation is not a witch-hunting exercise, but a fact-finding mission that aims to correct the abuses in the management of tax incentives and ensure the right thing is done for the general good.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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