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Nigeria: Taxes - States, LGs Owe N83.4bn, Says Firs Boss
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This Day (Lagos)
20 June 2008
Posted to the web 20 June 2008
Stanley Nkwazema
Abuja
The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, yesterday told the House of Representatives Committee on Finance that the 36 states of the federation and the 774 Local Governments have refused to pay N83.4 billion owed in taxes including Value Added Tax (VAT).
Omoigui-Okauru, who spoke at the hearing on Revenue Generation and Non Remittance into the Federation Account, said that while the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) also owe N33.8 billion in taxes and revenues, fines and penalties, the revenue generated by the FIRS has grown by N1, 143.20 billion or 163.85 percent between 2003 and 2007.
It has also exceeded the budget for the first quarter of 2008 by N128.40 billion or by 22.26percent.
Omoigui said it is not only banks that are defaulting in timely remittances "But MDAs also. It is an issue not just at the federal level but also at the state and local government levels.
On the N3.9 billion owed by United Bank for Africa (UBA) against the five banks it has so far acquired, which includes City Express Bank Gulf Bank, metropolitan, Liberty Bank and Broad Bank, Omoigui told the lawmakers that she has directed that UBA be contacted to pay the money. She said "UBA is a leading bank, so they should pay and ensure that it is paid into government coffers".
"On UBA, we actually got this information last week that they are now the owners of the banks. We are not standing for any bank. It is good we give them time. We are not condoning any action that is not beneficial to the country"
In his own remarks, the chairman of the Committee, Honourable John Ewa Enoh, said the "FIRS, Customs and NNPC are some of the agencies of government that are run as if they are personal estates . So many of them do not remit revenues to the Federal Account as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.
"The essence of this public hearing therefore is to establish the exact position of government revenue and to ensure that agencies comply with the provisions of the law in this regard.
"This is a call to national duty and we appeal to all invitees to assist the committee with information. This is not a witch-hunt and we do not consider any invitee to be an enemy", he said.
The Speaker of the House, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, however told the stakeholders that "This exercise is long overdue. We gave the committee the full complement to conduct the investigation".
"So far, the committee has been on top of the situation and so far we are impressed with the progress. This exercise is important because government is undertaking far-reaching policies to turn the nation around"
"Democracy will be seriously affected if there is no economic development. The success of government and its policies therefore, depends on the remittance of revenues. We are looking for collectible revenues; that is the target and not the assumed revenues. We want all agencies to be accountable and hold all public officials accountable for their actions", he said.
The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwabo, had earlier in his submission revealed that while the monetisation policy of the Federal Government has yielded N268,390,720.77 billion between 2004 when it was started and March this year, over 20 MDAs did not remit N6,520,363,970.52 billion Independent Revenue between the same period under review by the House of Representatives.
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He listed the MDAs as Federal Ministries of Health, Internal Affairs, Sports and Social Development, Science and Technology, Communication, Power and Steel, Agric and Rural Development, Education and Environment.
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