The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a 12-day ultimatum to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to provide detailed records of revenue generated from stamp duty charges between 2016 and 2024.
The committee also directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all commercial banks in the country to submit similar records within the same period.
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The committee chairman, Aliyu Wadada, who addressed journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday, said the request was part of efforts to help the federal government track revenue accruing from stamp duty and how such funds were managed or expended.
“It is, of course, one thing to be able to generate revenue, and it is a different ballgame for the revenue to be judiciously put together and effectively utilised. It is in the light of that that this committee thought it wise to look at the profile of revenue as regards the stamp duty in the country.
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“As a result of that, this committee has written to all commercial banks to furnish it with information that will be accompanied by figures as to how much that particular bank or collectively all the commercial banks have been able to generate from 2016 to 2024.
“The committee has also written to the Central Bank of Nigeria to furnish it with information accompanied with figures as to how much has actually been remitted by these commercial banks and how much has Central Bank remitted to the TSA. This committee has also written the Federal Inland Revenue Service for it to furnish it with information that should also be accompanied with figures as to how much it has generated on this category of stamp duty.,” he said.
On the inquiry involving state governments, Mr Wadada, who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District, explained that the committee wrote specifically to the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, seeking a breakdown of stamp duty proceeds received by states within the nine years.
“For this exercise to be all-inclusive and all-encompassing. The committee has also written to the Nigerian Governors Forum, specifically to the chairman of the forum , Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasak of Kwara State, through its secretariat, to also furnish this committee with how much they have received as proceeds of stamp duty. This is all geared towards knowing what is where, and how effective it should be utilised”, he added.
Stamp duty charges are fees imposed on banking transactions and certain legal documents. It has been a major subject of controversy in Nigeria for nearly a decade. Public scrutiny intensified around 2016 when the federal government began enforcing electronic stamp duty on bank deposits above a prescribed threshold.
Since then, disagreements have persisted among federal agencies, financial institutions and state governments over who is responsible for collecting the revenue, how much has been generated, and where the proceeds have gone.
Multiple institutions, including the CBN, FIRS, commercial banks and state governments, have at various times laid claim to portions of the revenue.
A freedom of information (FOI) request filed by The ICIR in 2018 indicated that details of the revenues from stamp duties estimated at N20 trillion at the time were opaque ,as the federal agencies involved in the collection refused to provide information.
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Humongous amount was realised from stamp duty
Mr Wadada said preliminary information at the committee’s disposal indicates that “humongous amounts” were generated from stamp duty collections by the concerned agencies and state governments.
He, however, urged all parties to comply with the committee’s request on or before 25 November.
“We have information about all these agencies, but we’re keeping it to ourselves for now and there is a time frame which is the 25th of this month,” he said.
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