Follow Us on Google
Uche Usim, Abuja
There was a ruckus on Twitter Tuesday morning with two federal agencies, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), engaged in a tweet fight over whose jurisdiction the collection of stamp duty falls under.
Trouble started when Mrs Maimuna Abubakar, the Chairperson of the NIPOST Board, alleged in a tweet thread that FIRS did not only steal NIPOST’s stamps but also its ideas.
‘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 is the sole custodian of national stamps; another agency printing and selling stamps is against the law of the land.” mandate..#justicefornipost.’
Responding to Abubakar via series of tweets, the FIRS Spokesman, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, described her tweet as indecorous.
‘Our attention was drawn to the tweet by Mrs Abubakar. 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.
‘We appreciate the general public for demonstrating deep knowledge of the difference between Stamp Duty and Postage Stamp. It is unfortunate that Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the NIPOST Board is yet to understand this. 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 co-ordinated 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 got charged with the responsibility of *assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties.
‘It is therefore shocking to us 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 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 ambit 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,’ he concluded.
The very public matter drew the ire of Nigerians who blasted the two government agencies for sparing in public.
Many of them said the dispute was an indication that the Federal Government was not prepared to sanitise the agencies.
