FG Rakes In N45.8bn From Stamp Duties
The Federal Government has raked in over N45.8 billion from stamp duties, following the reforms introduced by the present administration.
Post Master General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Bisi Adegbuyi, who disclosed this to journalists yesterday, in Abuja, said there is no conflict between NIPOST and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as well as the States Board of Internal Revenue over remittances of stamp duties.
He explained that NIPOST’s position is that the production, printing and sale of stamp duties remain the sole responsibility of NIPOST, even if it had moved from manual to electronic stamps.
Adegbuyi, who was flanked by the General Manager Counter Services, Mrs Toyin Egbesola; the General Manager ICT, Dr Thomas Ali Gaga; and the Director Finance and Investment, Usman Shabba, said NIPOST is currently undergoing a digital transformation that would change the narrative of postal services in Nigeria.
He observed that NIPOST has deployed ICT solutions/platforms to attain about 70 percent automation of all its systems and operations across the country, and by 2020 the systems would be fully automated.
Adegbuyi noted that NIPOST as the largest government-owned institution in Nigeria, with its operations dating back to 1934, is currently leveraging digital technology to address the socio-economic problems confronting the nation. He said: “ What we are doing currently is to change the narrative of postal service system in Nigeria by leveraging on technological platforms to drive financial inclusion, create jobs opportunities, promote Small and Medium Scale Businesses, create access to credit and mortgage systems, and assist government to address the current security challenges.
We are currently partnering with JAMB, NIMC, and other institutions and agencies of government to make our operations robust, particularly in the financial services sector, e-governance, remittances, parcel and postal services. The CBN has also granted NIPOST the licence for money transfer, because of our large presence in all the local government councils in the country.
“We are aggregating all the e-government centres, Road Safety, Immigration Service, etc., to ensure that the common man will benefit from them through the Postal Service System. You can imagine if pension are paid to our retirees in the villages through the Postal Service system, the stress associated with pension payment would be avoided, and lots of lives would be saved as well from the risks associated with travelling.”
Adegbuyi further said NIPOST management is currently embarking on infrastructure development, deployment of digital solutions/platforms, training and retraining of its workers among others, to change the narrative of postal service in Nigeria, adding that partial commercialisation would place it in a better position to generate huge revenue for the government.
