By Chinenye Anuforo
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Federal Government agency responsible for Information Technology (IT) development in Nigeria, recorded the sum of N168.9 billion from taxes in 13 years, according to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Executive Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, who gave the figure during the 2023 NITDA/FIRS Stakeholder Engagement Forum, held in Lagos yesterday, said: “FIRS is a key partner of NITDA. We assist in the assessment, collection and accounting for their revenue, as stated in Section 16 of the NITDA Act (2007). In 2022, FIRS collected and remitted the sum of N22,574,099,600.06 and the total sum collected by FIRS on behalf of the agency from 2008 to December 2022 is N168, 847, 118, 268.22.”
Nami, who was represented by the Group Lead, General Tax Operation Group at NITDA, Kabir Abba, said it was important to showcase the achievements of the agency, particularly as taxpayers can easily make a connection between the taxes paid and its socio-economic impact, which would also assist to improve voluntary compliance in payment of tax.
Speaking on the achievements of NITDA, and the need for IT companies to pay their taxes promptly, the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said since 2001 when NITDA was established, the agency had initiated, developed and implemented several IT policies that are driving development in the sector. According to him, as government agency, NITDA only generates money through company income taxes, and he appealed to IT companies to collaborate with NITDA and pay their taxes regularly and promptly to enable NITDA successfully carry out its projects that are geared towards IT development in a digital era.
“NITDA will continue to drive innovation in the IT sector that has out-performed the once lucrative oil and gas sector from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, ICT contributed 13 per cent, while oil and gas contributed eight per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2020, ICT contributed 18 per cent to GDP, while oil and gas contributed 8.2 per cent to GDP. In 2021, ICT contribution to GDP declined to 14.11 per cent because of the effect of COVID-19, while oil and gas contribution to GDP also declined to 7.3 per cent. In 2022, ICT contributed 16.6 per cent to GDP, while oil and gas contributed 6.4 per cent to GDP,” Abdullahi said.
Listing the challenges in the IT sector, Abdullahi said the sector was faced with limited infrastructure, limited access to market and challenges in early stage funding. He however said that despite the challenges, NITDA would continue to drive innovation in the sector, connect the unconnected, adding that the agency needs money through taxes, to achieve its projects and to provide infrastructure and de