Africa Press-Nigeria:
The Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST), has refuted recent online claims by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), that it was operating an illegal stamp duties account.
This is contained in a statement signed by Franklin Alao, NIPOST General Manager, Communications, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
The Director of Communication and Liaison, FIRS, Mr Abdullahi Ahmad, had in a reaction to a tweet by NIPOST’s board Chairman, Maimuna Abubakar, accused it of illegally running a stamp duty account.
Abubakar had twitted about FIRS stealing the idea of NIPOST and accepting payments for stamp duties.
However, Ahmad had in his reaction stated that the FIRS was determined to ensure that all monies collected by NIPOST into its illegally operated Stamp Duties Account were fully remitted into the Federation Account.
”FIRS would also ensure full recovery of any kobo not accounted for in that account in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s charge to the Inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of stamp duties from 2016 till date.”
According to Alao, the account which the FIRS made reference to as “illegal” was opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under the Treasury Single Account (TSA), in consultation with the office of Accountant General of the Federation.
He stated that the account was opened when CBN gave instructions to Deposit Money Banks to begin the deduction of N50 stamp duties from bank customers’ accounts.
