Stamp duty account: You lied - NIPOST fires back at FIRS
The management of
the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) on Sunday August 9, reacted to the Federal
Inland Revenue Service's claim of operating an illegal Stamp Duty Account.
The FIRS in its
statement last week, had also threatened to ensure that all monies in the
account were recovered, transferred into the Federation Account and accounted
for by NIPOST.
However reacting to
the allegation in a statement titled ‘NIPOST stamp duty account was opened by
CBN’, the postal agency stated that its stamp duty account was opened by the
Central Bank of Nigeria under the Treasury Single Account.
Asides giving out
the name of the account as " NIPOST Stamp Duties Collection Account",
the postal agency further disclosed that CBN directed Deposit Money Banks to
commence the deduction of N50 stamp duties from bank customers accounts at the
time.
Explaining why it is
seeking for proper implementation of the Finance Act, NIPOST recounted how
Nigeria just like in other nation had at different times produced adhesive
postage stamps and revenue stamps for the Federal Government.
The statement read;
Nigerian Postal
Service (NIPOST) attention has been drawn to a publication by the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) that NIPOST operated an illegal stamp duty
account. According to the publication, the Director of Communication and
Liaison of FIRS made the statement in a series of tweets.
We hereby state
categorically that the statement is false and made to misinform and mislead
members of the public. The account the Director of Communication of FIRS made
reference to as “illegal” was opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the
Treasury Single Account (TSA) in consultation with the office of Accountant
General of the Federation, in the name of NIPOST Stamp Duties Collection
Account when CBN gave instruction to Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to commence the
deduction of #50 stamp duties from bank customers accounts.
The account belongs
to the Federation NIPOST does not have access to whatsoever monies lodged into
the account, as such the question of illegality and misappropriation does not
arise.
NIPOST wishes to
restate that under the extant laws of Nigeria to with NIPOST Act 2004 provides
and vests solely in NIPOST the power to print adhesive postage stamps, which is
the instrument for denoting documents and other transaction instruments in compliance
with the provisions of the Stamp Duties Act.
Historically, the
Post in Nigeria, just like in the comity of nations, has at different times
produced adhesive postage stamps and revenue stamps for the Federal Government.
It is to this end that NIPOST seeks the proper implementation of the Finance
Act.
NIPOST is therefore
taken aback when FIRS took to the tweeter to call out the Chairman, NIPOST
Board, Barrister Maimuna Yaya Abubakar, who only tried to bring the attention
of the Service and public that NIPOST would be emasculated if the Act is not
properly implemented.
This is more so when
there was a meeting between FIRS and NIPOST in July 2013 in the office of the
Executive Chairman of FIRS and resolution reached that “NIPOST is statutory
duty bound to provide the stamps to be used by FIRS at both federal and state
levels”.
We wish to reassure
members of the public that NIPOST as a responsible government institution has
always operated within the ambit of the law. We therefore urge the general
public to disregard the statement credited to the Director, Communication and
Liaison, FIRS on the issue.
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