FIRS In Messy Fight With NIPOST’s Chairperson Over Stamp Duty Collections

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigeria Postal Service, NIPOST are currently locked in media war over printing of postage stamps and stamp duty revenue collections on behalf of the Federal Government.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Postal Service, Maimuna Abubakar, had accused the Federal Inland Revenue Service that it stole the mandate of NIPOST in a series of tweets made on Sunday.

The NIPOST chairman said the FIRS, which is the agency responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for tax accruing to the Federal Government, had begun printing postage stamps.

She subsequently called on Nigerians to ensure that NIPOST gets justice.

Abubakar tweeted, “I am worried for NIPOST, having sleepless nights because of NIPOST, we need the general public to come to our aid; FIRS stole our mandate. FIRS are now selling stamps instead of buying from us. What is happening, are we expected to keep quiet and let FIRS kill and bury NIPOST?

“We need to get our mandate. NIPOST are the sole custodians of national stamps, another agency printing and selling stamps is against the law of the land.”

The NIPOST chairman said the FIRS tactically removed her agency from the finance bill despite the contributions the postal service made to the bill.

She further stated that the postal service had generated over N60 billion which had been deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Abubakar stated, “FIRS did not only steal our stamps but also our ideas, what NIPOST had worked for since 2016, our documents, patent and sneaked everything into finance bill and tactically removed the name of NIPOST.

“I like to make this clear, NIPOST is the only agency charged with the responsibility of producing adhesive stamps and revenue for the purchase of such stamp accrues to NIPOST. There is nowhere in FIRS Act or Stamp Duty Act where it’s so stated that FIRS can produce stamp or sale stamp

“Did you know that NIPOST had generated over N60bn in NIPOST CBN account for the Federal Government?

On Tuesday, buttering her points, she further tweeted “Under the extant laws of Nigeria to wit the NIPOST Act, the Stamp Duties Act and the Finance Act, the adhesive postage stamp is not only used for postage it is the only stamp with which denoting of ALL receipts documents and registrable instruments is to be done in Nigeria.

“The Tax Certificate or a Tax Clearance Certificate and any other formalized document issued by the FIRS whether in the form of a paper copy or an electronic copy which is printed out remains a document liable to be denoted with an adhesive postage stamp minted by NIPOST.

“Section 34(2) of the NIPOST Act 2004 provides and vests in the Postmaster General of NIPOST the power to appoint or engage agents as business partners to sell by retailing the adhesive postage stamps minted by NIPOST.

“Section 5(d) of the NIPOST Act 2004 provides and vests solely in NIPOST the power to mint stamps. This power is exercised by the Postmaster General of NIPOST pursuant to the provision of Section 34(1) of the NIPOST Act 2004.

“The receipt issued by the FIRS whether in the form of a paper receipt or an electronic receipt which is printed out remains a receipt liable to be denoted with an adhesive postage stamp minted by NIPOST.

“The Finance Act 2019 did not delete nor repeal neither did it amend Section 11(1), (2) and (3) and Section 89(1) of the Stamps Duties Act 2004(As Amended 2019).

“Section 89(1) of the Stamps Duties Act 2004(As Amended 2019) provides that a receipt evidencing the payment of a money amount N4:00k(Four naira) and above MUST be denoted using an adhesive postage stamp and the affixed adhesive postage stamp cancelled out”, she tweeted.

However, in an earlier response to her tweets, a statement tweeted on Tuesday by Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, FIRS, Director Communication and Liaison, said that Mrs Abubakar was trying to ‘mislead the public’ with her claims.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been drawn to a tweet by Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the Board of NIPOST.

“Her indecorous tweet would not have deserved any response but for the sensitive nature of the issue at stake, which if not sensibly treated and promptly corrected would likely mislead the public.

“To be sure, NIPOST is a government parastatal established by Decree 41 of 1992 with the function to ‘develop, promote, and provide adequate and efficiently coordinated postal services at reasonable rates’.

“This function is clearly contrary to the claim by NIPOST over the administration of stamp duties in Nigeria.

“On the other hand, the FIRS is the sole agency of government charged with the responsibility of *assessing, collecting and accounting for all tax types, including Stamp Duties.*

“It is therefore shocking to us at the FIRS that such a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office would throw all caution to the air to cast aspersions on reputable public institutions like the National Assembly and the FIRS, which she accused of stealing NIPOST idea. This, to say the least, is a preposterous claim and great disservice to the government and people of Nigeria.

“We wish to state categorically that, as an agency which operates within the armbit of the law, the FIRS is determined to not only ensure that all monies collected by NIPOST into its illegally operated Stamp Duties Account are fully remitted into the Federation Account but also make sure that any kobo not accounted for in that account is legally recovered in line with the charge of President Muhammadu Buhari to the recently inaugurated Inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of stamp duties from 2016 till date.

“In addition, anyone found culpable of misappropriating the funds in the said illegal NIPOST Stamp Duties Account would be made to face the law as provisioned by the country’s statute books.

“The public is hereby reminded that we at the FIRS are resolute in our resolve to safeguard national interests and not any personal ego or interest as NIPOST officials appear to carry on lately.

“We, therefore, call on right-thinking Nigerians to disregard that ill-advised tweet by Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar and allied misinformation being disseminated by NIPOST in relation to Stamp Duties collection, which by law is the responsibility of the FIRS”.