President Bola Tinubu will dispatch an “emergency fiscal bill” to the National Assembly within the next two weeks for consideration, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has said.
Mr Adedeji disclosed this on Wednesday while defending the budget of the Service before the House Representatives Committee on Finance.
The FIRS chief explained that the bill aims to provide clarity on the fiscal direction of the president amid the current economic hardship the country is grappling with.
He said the bill is awaiting approval of the Federal Executive Council but that once it is done in the next couple of days it will be transmitted to the National Assembly.
Mr Adedeji did not disclose the content of the bill but stated that the Finance Minister, Wale Edun, will engage with lawmakers to discuss its content before presentation to the National Assembly.
“If not for change, I know one should have come yesterday. It was listed at FEC. Hopefully, we will have the first one that we will label an ‘emergency bill’ that addresses those critical issues,” he said.
Nigeria is facing a challenging macroeconomic environment, marked by inflationary pressure, foreign exchange volatility, and a food crisis.
In recent months, the Central Bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, has been notably active in addressing the monetary aspects of the crisis, while the fiscal front has remained relatively quiet.
The hardship has triggered protests in some parts of the country. On Tuesday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) held a nationwide protests across the country over economic hardship.
Customs, NIMASA have no business with revenue collection
Discussing fiscal reforms, Mr Adedeji urged lawmakers to support the harmonisation of the federal government’s revenue collection system.
He argued that agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service and others should not be involved in revenue collection. According to him, Nigeria needs a single revenue collection platform, as seen in other jurisdictions like the UK and South Africa.
“What we see is that in other climes, you have single revenue-collecting agency. But here in Nigeria, we have more than 62 agencies collecting one way or the other on behalf of the federal government.
“I don’t want to mention names, but when you mention customs, they are a border and trade facilitator. Revenue is not a core mandate of customs.
“If you go to the UK or South Africa, you will not see customs in South Africa collecting revenue. You don’t see customs collecting revenue in the UK. That is part of the issues I have with the tax credit. It is not the duty of FIRS to be approving money for the road; it is the duty of the Ministry of Works,” he said.
Approved budget
Meanwhile, the committee also approved the sum of N446.34 billion for the 2024 budget of the agency.
The budget estimate comprises N177.44 billion as personnel cost; N156.45 billion as overhead cost, and N112.45 billion as capital.
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