THE Federal Inland Revenue Service, on Tuesday, vowed to recover all Stamp Duty illegally collected by the Nigeria Postal Services from 2016 till date.
The Service said this while reacting to a series of tweets by the Chairman of the Nigeria Postal Service, Maimuna Abubakar, claiming that the FIRS had stolen the mandate of NIPOST.
Abubakar had claimed on Sunday that the FIRS, which is the agency responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax accruing to the Federal Government, had begun printing stamps.
She subsequently called on Nigerians to ensure that NIPOST gets justice.
But reacting to the statement by the NIPOST Chairman, the FIRS said that it remained the sole agency of government charged with the responsibility of assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types, including Stamp Duties.
The FIRS described the allegations made by the NIPOST Chairman as a preposterous claim and great disservice to the government and people of Nigeria.
The FIRS statement, signed by the Director, Communication and Liaison, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, stated that 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.
The FIRS statement said, “The attention of the Federal Inland Revenue Service has been drawn to a tweet by Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the Board of NIPOST.
“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.
“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 coordinated 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 government charged with the responsibility of assessing, collecting and accounting for all tax types, including Stamp Duties.
“It is therefore shocking to us at the FIRS 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 the 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 armbit 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.”
The Service said it remained resolute in its resolve to safeguard national interests and not any personal ego or interest as NIPOST officials appeared to carry on lately.
The FIRS and NIPOST have been at loggerheads over the collection of stamp duty on behalf of the Federal Government.
While the Stamp Duty Act 2004 mandated NIPOST to manage the stamp duty, the recent Finance Bill reposed the responsibility in FIRS.
