E-Financial
ICSAN Backs States on VAT Collection
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), has enjoined states to take a cue from Lagos and River states on value added tax (VAT) and start looking at how to re-project themselves towards readdressing the reality and reaching self-sustenance.
Taiwo Owokalade, president of ICSAN, who stated this at a briefing at its secretariat in Lagos to address some of the issues going on in the country, said states should start looking at how to re-project themselves towards readdressing the reality on ground.
“If you go through the exclusive list, you will not find VAT there. So, VAT is basically a sales consumption tax that should sit with the state and for whatever reason in the past, the federal government took it up and it became a federal thing and is now being shared among states government.
“That to an extent has become one of the strongest bases of our gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria and is contributes about 16 to 17 per cent to the GDP and that is huge because several states depend on what comes from that area.
“However, Lagos and River states have challenged the federal government through its agency, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in court which the two states won.
“The import of that judgement on Nigeria is for every state to face reality and start addressing those reality going forward. If they don’t have the VAT money, they have other resources that they could use to develop their states.
“We travel out of the country and we see the Dubai of this world, they were pure desert many years ago and with the capacity of the people to redefine their lives, and they made a meaning out of that life and they made more money from tourism than they make from oil that we here keep disturbing as if our lives start and end with oil.
“There is going to be some impact instantly, when you say you want VAT to reside in the state where it has been generated and that does not mean other states will die because the bulk of people who make life meaningful in Lagos are not Lagosians, they also came from other states.
“So, maybe it will help us even distribute the population on the right places because many migrated to Lagos because they think Lagos is much more prosperous. We need to put in place those methodology that will ensure that other states are much more viable,” he said.
Owokalade said there is no states in the country that is not endowed but what we have created for ourselves as a nation is that we have allowed the easy way out to run our lives and that is the place we have found ourselves.
“ For instance, there are several states in America that never had natural resources but they depend on human resources to make a meaning out of their lives and this is the same thing that we should start looking at.
“And for us as an institute, we would not shy away from addressing all these fundamental issues. We want to be part of the solutions to the problems of Nigeria and reconfigure the nation on the right path without looking at sentiment, emotions and tribal factors but focusing on the best thing to do for this nation.” Owokalade said.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
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Fidelity Bank grows PBT by 167.8% to N105.8 billion in Q1 2025
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