Reps Probe CBN, Others for Stamp Duties Non-Remittance

House of Representatives is to constitute an ad hoc investigative panel over to probe the non-remittance of stamp duty by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), money deposit banks and other collection agents.

The lawmakers alleged the banks and other collection agencies of short-changing the nation by refusing to remit the duties into the Federation Account.

The ad hoc panel has four weeks to carry out the assignment and report back for further legislative action.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Hon Goni Lawan, who noted that independent efforts by both local and international civil society organisations (CSOs) to get details of the collections have so far failed.

According to him,  the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) in 2014 initiated the stamp duty collection scheme, following which a firm, the School Banking Honours (SBH) obtained authorisation of the CBN to engage the banks and other qualified collection agents.

He said: “But the complicit irregularity by which public institutions including the CBN, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), NIPOST among others, have over time failed to remit stamp duty taxes into the Federation Account running into trillions.

“While the deductible amount per bank account may seem small, it cumulatively adds up to money in billions and trillions of naira, and must be subjected to the full condition of disclosure and transparency.