This announcement was made on Tuesday by Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Adeniyi highlighted the government’s commitment to addressing the inflationary pressures in a seamless manner, with the goal of reducing hunger across the country.

He noted that global inflation is impacting nations worldwide, including Nigeria, and emphasized that the NCS has streamlined export processes to facilitate the efficient movement of Nigerian goods to international markets.

The initiative includes the introduction of advanced ruling systems, authorized economic operators, and a time-release study aimed at enhancing trade, stimulating the economy, and creating new opportunities.

According to Adeniyi, these reforms are designed to provide farmers, artisans, and entrepreneurs with faster access to global markets, benefiting their families and communities.

“We are committed to implementing this measure seamlessly to address the problem of hunger in our nation,” Adeniyi stated.

In addition to economic measures, the NCS is intensifying efforts to combat the proliferation of arms and dangerous weapons through Nigeria’s land, sea, and airports.

Adeniyi warned that disruptions in the supply chain can negatively affect foreign investment, distort trade, promote instability, increase scarcity, and hinder revenue collections.

“In these challenging times, let us unite in resilience and cooperation. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who have embraced the path of peace and dialogue,” he said, calling for constructive engagement and cooperation from all Nigerians to overcome current challenges and build a brighter future.

This announcement was made by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, during a press briefing at the National Press Centre in Abuja on Monday.

Kyari revealed that the exempted food items, which include maize, wheat, husked brown rice, and cowpeas, will benefit from a 150-day Duty-Free Import Window.

This initiative is part of the Presidential Accelerated Stabilization and Advancement Plan aimed at achieving food security and economic stability in Nigeria.

Addressing the ongoing food inflation crisis, Kyari assured Nigerians of the government’s commitment to ensuring food security and preventing hunger.

He stated, “The Federal Government has announced a 150-day Duty-Free Import Window for Food Commodities, suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities (through land and sea borders). These commodities include maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas.”

Kyari emphasized that imported food commodities will be subject to a Recommended Retail Price (RRP) to maintain safety standards.

He also mentioned that the government plans to import 250,000 metric tons each of wheat and maize to support small-scale processors and millers across the country.

Additionally, Kyari announced the inauguration of the Renewed Hope National Livestock Transformation Implementation Committee, which will develop and implement policies prioritizing livestock development in alignment with the National Livestock Transformation Plan.

This is according to the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele.

He said in a post on his X handle that, “As part of the ongoing fiscal policy and tax reforms, a new withholding tax regime has been approved.

“The key changes introduced are to address the identified challenges and specifically include the exemption of small businesses from withholding tax compliance; reduced rates for businesses with low margins; exemptions for manufacturers and producers such as farmers; measures to curb evasion and minimise tax avoidance and the ease of obtaining credit and utilisation of tax deducted at source.”

Others are, “Changes to reflect emerging issues and adopt global best practices and clarity on the timing of deduction and definition of key terms. The approved regulation is expected to be published in the official gazette in the coming days.”

He said withholding tax came into effect in Nigeria in 1977 and was meant to serve as an advance payment of tax on specified transactions.

“It was designed to provide the government with regular revenue flow and to serve as a means of curbing tax evasion,” the tax expert said.

During a recent meeting with Joint Tax Board (JTB) Secretary Olusegun Adesokan, Tunji-Ojo highlighted the need for a unified identification system to prevent tax evasion, emphasizing that integrating NIN with TIN would simplify tracking taxpayers.

He advocated for a close partnership between the Joint Tax Board and the Nigeria Immigration Service to ensure seamless data sharing.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the minister proposed that the NIN serve as a comprehensive security identifier, encompassing tax and other vital information.

The JTB Secretary’s visit aimed at fostering collaboration with the Ministry, enhancing capacity with the Nigerian Immigration Service, and addressing issues related to expatriate data and tax.

Previously, in September 2023, Tunji-Ojo committed to investing in the harmonization of national data through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), aiming to end multiple ID registrations and ensure a unified data repository.

He emphasized that success in this initiative would significantly enhance the integrity of Nigeria’s identification systems.

Adedeji, along with the Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr. Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this information during a briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The deployment of the Education Tax Fund in the scheme aims to enhance government accountability to taxpayers, according to Adedeji. Sawyerr emphasized that the loan application process would involve an App designed specifically for this purpose, ensuring a streamlined and intervention-free experience for applicants.

The government’s primary objective is to enable young Nigerians to pursue tertiary education without financial constraints, preventing them from being forced to abandon their studies due to lack of funds.

Sawyerr highlighted the importance of the student loan scheme in helping individuals choose their desired career paths and avoiding perilous journeys undertaken by Nigerian youths seeking education opportunities abroad.

Sawyerr further revealed that the loan disbursements would be directed straight to the institutions of successful applicants, easing the financial burden on both students and their parents.

While every Nigerian is eligible to apply for the loan, priority will be given to the most financially needy individuals.

Adedeji concluded by stating that the implementation of the student loan scheme aligns with the government’s commitment to making education accessible to all, utilizing the Education Tax Fund as a means to uphold education integrity and quality.

TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Arc Sunny Echono, made this revelation during an interactive session with leaders of beneficiary institutions in Abuja, where he discussed disbursement guidelines for the 2024 intervention cycle.

Echono attributed this exceptional revenue increase to several factors, including the approval of a 3 percent share of accessible profit by both former and present administrations, as well as measures implemented by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in partnership with TETFund.

In response to the improved tax collections in 2024, TETFund has allocated a significant increase in annual direct disbursements as part of its intervention program.

Approximately 90.54 percent of the taxes generated will be directly disbursed, with 6.5 percent designated for specific projects and 2.94 percent for stabilization efforts.

Echono also announced plans to expand the Special High Impact Programme (SHIP) with upgrades to laboratories, workshops, and equipment in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education (technical) for the 2024 Intervention Year.

Additionally, the Early Grade Resource Centers Phase II will be extended to Colleges of Education accredited by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

He called upon external stakeholders, including the National Assembly, to minimize distractions and support TETFund’s efforts to elevate tertiary institutions to the envisioned heights set by President Bola Tinubu.

In response, Prof Paulinus Okwelle, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), commended TETFund for its commendable activities in colleges of education throughout the nation.

Oyedele, in a post on his X account, while answering some frequently asked questions about the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, said the committee aims to reduce the burden on people and businesses.

His words: “We do not intend to introduce new taxes or impose higher tax rates. Rather, our mandate is to reduce the number of taxes and levies while harmonising revenue collection to reduce the burden on the people and businesses.

“The objective is to avoid taxing investment, capital, production or poverty. We plan to review and re-enact the major tax laws in a holistic manner thereby limiting the necessity for frequent changes through annual finance acts.”

He also stated that in achieving the 18 percent tax-to-GDP ratio mandated by the committee, there are plans to increase revenue by leveraging technology rather than introducing new taxes.

“The average tax to GDP ratio for Africa excluding Nigeria is about 18%. This is the basis for the target of 18% and the estimated tax gap of N20 trillion.

“There is a huge opportunity to generate revenue by leveraging technology and tax intelligence to close the tax gap. In addition, we will rationalize incentives, reduce the cost of collection, and optimise revenue from government assets and natural resources. This way we can generate more revenue without introducing new taxes.”

Oyedele said the committee’s mandate is not limited to the federal government but will work across all levels.

“The committee will work with all levels of government as critical stakeholders to ensure effective collaboration in the design and implementation of necessary fiscal policy changes and localisation of reforms at the subnational level as may be applicable,” he said.

These orders include the suspension of the five percent Excise Tax on telecommunication services and the escalation of excise duties on locally manufactured products.

Some of these taxes were originally introduced through an Executive Order by former President Muhammadu Buhari during his final days in office.

Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, announced the suspension of these taxes.

He provided this information during a briefing with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Additionally, Tinubu signed the Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023. This order defers the commencement date of the changes outlined in the Act from May 23, 2023, to September 1, 2023.

The purpose of this delay is to ensure compliance with the 90-day minimum advance notice for tax changes, as stipulated in the 2017 National Tax Policy.

Furthermore, the President signed The Customs, Excise Tariff (Variation) Amendment Order, 2023. This order shifts the commencement date of tax changes from March 27, 2023, to August 1, 2023, in accordance with the National Tax Policy.

Tinubu also suspended the newly introduced Green Tax on Single Use Plastics (SUPs), which includes plastic containers and bottles. Moreover, the Import Tax Adjustment levy on certain vehicles was also suspended.

These orders were issued by the President to alleviate the negative impacts of the tax adjustments on businesses and households in various sectors.

Tinubu remains committed to addressing concerns related to multiple taxation and anti-business practices.

The administration will implement friendly policies to support business growth and will not impose further tax increases without extensive consultations and a coherent fiscal policy framework.

Tinubu recognizes the importance of business owners and local as well as foreign investors in achieving higher GDP growth and reducing the unemployment rate through job creation. The government will continue to provide the necessary support to enable businesses to thrive in Nigeria.

This information may be found in a paper that the House of Representatives Committee on Finance produced titled “Invitation to a One Day Public Hearing and Submission of Memoranda on the 2022 Finance Bill.”

It said that the 2022 Finance Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly, would include the excise charge on telecom services that had been postponed once more.

According to the committee, it is conducting a public hearing on the 2022 Finance Bill and one of the subjects on the agenda is the discussion of telecoms as one of the goods liable to excise duty.

Part of the document read, “Telecommunication services provided in Nigeria shall be charged with duties of excise at the rates specified under the duty column in the Schedule as the President may by Order prescribe pursuant to section 13 of this Act.”

It added all telecommunication services in Nigeria shall be charged with duties of excise at “the rates specified under the duty column in the Schedule as the President may by Order prescribe pursuant to section 13 of this Act”.

According to the bill, the amendment was necessary to expand the scope of duties beyond the telecoms sector to avoid an undue focus on levying duties on this sector, adding that would remove the limitation of the scope of services that may be subject to excise duty.

It further stated that the need to increase revenue generation/tax administration was the reason for the proposed excise duty on telecom services.

The document did not specify the rate at which the excise duty would be charged.

In July, the Federal Government announced plans to implement a five per cent excise duty on telecoms services.

The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced this at a forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission. According to her, the excise duty was in the 2020 Finance Act but had not been implemented.

Speaking through the Assistant Chief Officer of the ministry, Mr Frank Oshanipin, she said, “Payments are to be made on monthly basis, on or before the 21st of every month.

“The duty rate was not captured in the Act because it is the responsibility of the president to fix rates on excise duties and he has fixed five per cent for telecommunication services which include GSM. It is public knowledge that our revenue cannot run our financial obligations, so we are to shift our attention to non-oil revenue.”

At the time, telecom companies who kicked against the implementation of the provision argued that it would amount to multiple taxations.

They had stated that the cost would be passed directly to the consumer, increasing the total tax paid by telecom consumers to 12.5 per cent.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Owners of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, said, “We will not be able to subsidise the five per cent excise duty on telecom services. This is because of the 39 multiple taxes we are already paying coupled with the epileptic power situation as we spend so much on diesel.”

Also, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, kicked against the implementation of excise duty on the telecoms sector. According to him, the tax would impact the sector and consumers negatively.

He said, “The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is not satisfied with any effort to introduce excise duty on telecommunication services.

“Firstly, I have not been consulted officially and part of the rulemaking is to invite stakeholders to make contributions. I was not consulted officially. Secondly, if we have been contacted, we would have challenged the submission.”

In September, the Federal Government announced a suspension on the implementation of excise duty on telecom services. It also inaugurated a committee to review the introduction of excise duty in the digital economy sector.

The government, however, said the debt burden was not beyond what it could effectively handle.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, represented by the Director (Technical Services), Fatima Hayatu, canvassed these views at a workshop on tax expenditure organised by the Economic Community of West African States Commission under the context of the Implementation of the Support Programme for Tax Transition in West Africa in Abuja.

The event was aimed at examining directives on harmonisation of tax expenditure management practices and the monitoring and evaluation of tax transition in ECOWAS  member-states.

The Minister said the issue of tax expenditure was of a great concern for the government.

The government had in July said the country’s debt service cost in the first quarter (Q1) 2022 was N1.94 trillion, N310 billion higher than the actual revenue received during the period indicating that Nigeria’s debt service cost presently outweighs its revenue.

Ahmed said, “If we have more taxes and redirect the taxes to the right fiscal sectors of our economy, we will reduce our debt burden. It is not as if the debt is beyond what the government can handle. If you look at the ratio of the debt to the Gross Domestic Product, I think the government is doing well.

“The debt is not something that cannot surmounted. The programme is to block leakages where the taxes are being diverted. So if we block leakages, and if it is transparent, Nigeria will borrow less and we will have more money to finance other sectors.”

While informing that reforms in tax expenditure management were gaining traction in Nigeria, she observed that the development had resulted in the continuous development of in-house capabilities and internal restructuring in agencies for greater efficiency.

Ahmed also said that government would commence the rationalisation of tax exemptions by phasing out antiquated pioneers and other tax incentives for matured industries.

According to her, contrary to what was obtained in the past, the country is presently reaping the benefits of tax exemptions and concessions given to small businesses.

She said, “A lot has changed, the system is more transparent and tax expenditure that government has given which is tax for bond is to encourage ailing and infant industries to be able to do more and employ more youth.

“I am glad to say that the tax expenditure that federal government has been given has encouraged industries and manufacturers to stay afloat even with the COVID-19 pandemic and also to say that they have been able to keep their staff. That, to us, is an achievement because we don’t want people to loose their jobs which would reduce the insecurity we are facing.”

Ahmed said Nigeria was committed to strengthening transparency in its public financial management towards the drive to boost domestic resource mobilisation.

The Head (Corporations), European Union for Nigeria and ECOWAS, Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, lamented the ratio of tax to GDP in the West African region, describing it as low.

While stressing the need for ECOWAS member-states to effectively mobilise more taxes to offset the potential decline in revenues, she observed that domestic revenue is an important source of government expenditure funding, but revenue mobilisation remains a critical challenge in the region.

Tassin-Pelzer said, “The global economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia have affected economic opportunities of countries and individuals. West Africa is no exception. In fact, one can argue that the impact of these challenges are felt even higher in this region than in so many others.

“Efficient management of internal taxation for improved revenue generation cannot be over emphasized. As we all know, the tax to GDP ratio in this region is too low and, and our host country, Nigeria, is one of the lowest in the world. Therefore, It is important for the region to get the tools required for a proper monitoring and evaluation of the taxes.”

The Director (Customs Union and Taxation), Salifou Tiemtore, called on the Federal Inland Revenue Service to deploy adequate resources for collection of more tax than the custom administration in order to mitigate the loss of revenue due to stain of liberalisation of the region’s economy.

He said the PATF programme would strengthen regional fight against fraud, tax evasion, Illicit Financial Flows and other forms of corruption.

Tiemtore said, “We need to know what government is paying as incentives or any type of exemptions they are giving to investors. If assess and quantified properly, it will give us an idea what government could get as revenue if such activities are not exempted from tax.

“We are also looking at fiscal transition. In the world right now because we are dismantling custom tariff and also looking at the liberalisation of our economy. What this means is that we are dismantling custom tariff which automatically means a loss of revenue from custom tax. We need to strengthen our domestic tax administration so that we will able to collect more money. FIRS, therefore, have to collect more tax than the custom administration to mitigate the loss of revenue due to stain of liberalisation of our economy.”