TECHDIGEST – The Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) has inaugurated a Presidential Technical Committee review Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information Systems (IPPIS), Government Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS) and the Single Treasury Account (TSA), and appointed National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to serve as Secretary.

Prof. Pantami disclosed that the approval for the inauguration was given by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.

The members of the Technical Working Committee which will be supervised by the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy include; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Folashade Yemi-Esan, the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. Aghughu Adolphus, the Chairman, Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr. Dasuki Arabi, Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Limited, Prof. Muhammad Abubakar, and Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Ekpo Nta Esq.

According to Prof. Pantami, the technical committee has been mandated by Mr. President to ensure the review of the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of these systems while advising the President on the best methods to improve them.

READ ALSO: Pantami Confirms Irregularities on IPPIS, Vows Review

While giving a brief historical overview of the IPPIS, GIFMIS and the TSA which were deployed in 2006, 2012 and 2015 respectively, Pantami hinted that the provisions of the NITDA Act 2007 were not observed and adhered to.

He averred that, “at the time they were deployed, the provisions of NITDA, Act 2007, section A, of setting the standardisation of ICT deployment in Federal Public Institutions were not followed. Because of this, these three systems were not subjected to government certification and IT project clearance as required by law and many other government policies”.

Offering credit to the systems for the achievements made thus far in terms of revenue generation, with IPPIS saving the government 120 billion naira and TSA saving over 10 trillion naira since their deployments, he however noted that there is a need for improvement.

“These figures show us that the government has recorded some major gains with their deployment but there is need to improve on them. Particularly with the recent allegations coming up that these systems are being exploited by evil people where they siphon money”, he stated.

Giving assurances of the government’s commitment to ensure the systems are of high quality, Pantami noted that errors have been detected in the processes of IPPIS when subjected to reviews by NITDA.

He further disclosed that GIFMIS and the TSA will be subjected to critical reviews as well to erode all forms of leakages, errors and challenges in their processes.

While urging the institutions managing the three systems to give maximum support and cooperation to the committee, the Honorable Minister clearly mentioned that any institution who does otherwise would face sanctions by Mr. President.

“In the approval and the directives by Mr. President, it is clearly mentioned that all government institutions that manage these three systems; IPPIS, GIFMIS, and TSA, must give unlimited access to the committee to ensure that they come up with a very strong recommendation to Mr. President for approval”, he said.

Prof. Pantami admonished the Committee to carry out its assignments judiciously by testing the processes and providing recommendations or criticism where necessary.

“We must identify where the challenges are, if any, and see how these systems can be enhanced technically so that we would be able to consolidate the gains we have achieved so far and also improve on them to achieve many more achievements and successes”.

Other dignitaries at the inauguration were the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Marcus Olaniyi, the Board Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Adeolu Akande, Board Chairman of the Nigerian Postal Service, Barrister Maimuna Yaya Abubakar, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau, Dr. Vincent Olatunji among many others.

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TECHDIGEST – Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has drawn a battle line with her Communication and Digital Economy counterpart, Professor Isa Ali Pantami over the planned collection of the increased tariff of five per cent on internet data and phone calls.

Against Pantami’s threats to stop implementation of the increased tariff on telecommunication consumers, saying it will scuttle the growth in the sector, the finance minister said government is going ahead to implement the new tariff hike no matter the opposition. She said the five per cent hike has been in the Finance Act 2020, but was never been implemented.

The finance minister made the remarks during a stakeholders’ meeting that was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). She was represented by the assistant director, tax policy in her ministry, Musa Umar. “Henceforth, the five percent excise duty will be collected by telecom operators and payment made to the federal government on a monthly basis, on or before 21st of every month,” the minister said yesterday.

READ ALSO: Cybersecurity: Pantami Emerges first African Fellow of Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec)

Pantami had rejected the planned implementation of five percent excise duty in the Nigerian telecoms sector. He expressed his disapproval for the policy at a telecom forum in Lagos that was organised by the Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS), an agency domiciled in the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).

He said that he would explore every legitimate means to stop the planned five percent excise duty tax on telecom consumers, faulting the timing and process of imposing the tax on the telecom industry, insisting that part of the responsibility of a responsive government was not to increase the challenges citizens were facing.

“I have not been contacted officially. If we are, we surely will state our case. The sector that contributes to the economy should be encouraged. You introduce excise duty to discourage luxury goods like alcohol, but broadband in the telecom sector is a necessity,” he told the gathering in Lagos.

But the finance minister said Pantami cannot claim to be absented in the whole processes that resulted in the Finance Act, which is a product of both the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Ahmed said Pantami was involved in the making of the Finance Act which spells the said excise tariff hike policy. Therefore, “he could not obviously have had a point in his ‘dissenting views’ even as the National Assembly could not have contradicted itself on this matter, because the parliament had passed the Finance Bill before President Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law,” she said.

Mrs Ahmed said the federal government introduced “Telecommunication Services” in line with the Finance Act.

Nigeria is one of the largest telecommunication markets in Africa. Available report from the NCC shows four categories of operators, i.e., mobile (GSM), fixed telephony operators (fixed/fixed wireless), internet service providers (ISPS) and others (operators other than mobile & fixed telephony, ISPs).

Subscriber number continues to grow substantially, having increased from about 180 million subscribers in 2019 to over 200 million active subscriptions in 2020. This represents an increase of over nearly 11 percent in total subscriptions. Moreover, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa such as Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Burundi currently impose excise duty on telecommunication services ranging between five per cent to 20 per cent.

The excise duty on telecommunication services provided in Nigeria introduced through the Finance Act, 2020 with statutory enactment on 1st January, 2021 is yet to be implemented till date.

The government said the delay was to consider the need to ensure reasonable transition period before the implementation of the new tax, as well as providing clarity to all stakeholders on implementation modalities.

The finance minister claimed that she had through a circular dated 1st March, 2022 informed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other heads of government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), including the Federal Ministry of Communication & Digital Economy about Buhari’s approval of the implementation of the five percent excise duty on telecommunication services with effect from 1st June, 2022.

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TECHDIGEST – Tax on telecommunication services is set to increase to 12.5% as the Federal Government plans to implement a 5% inclusive excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria.

This was made known by the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, at a stakeholders’ forum on the implementation of excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria which was held on Thursday in Abuja.

Ahmed, who was represented by the Assistant Chief Officer of the Ministry, Mr Frank Oshanipin, at the event organized by the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), said the 5% excise duty had been in the finance Act: 2020 but was not implemented.

Ahmed said the delay in its implementation was as a result of government engagement with stakeholders.

She said, “Payments are to be made on monthly basis, on or before 21st of every month.

“The duty rate was not captured in the Act because it is the responsibility of the President to fix rate on excise duties and he has fixed five per cent for telecommunication services which include GSM.

“It is public knowledge that our revenue cannot run our financial obligations, so we are to shift our attention to non-oil revenue.

“The responsibility of generating revenue to run government lies with us all.’’
Telecoms consumers to bear burden of new tax as operators kick.

The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Owners of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo said the additional 5% tax would be passed on telecommunications consumers who will bear the burden.

He said, “It means that subscribers will now pay 12.5 per cent tax on telecom services, we will not be able to subsidise the five per cent excise duty on telecom services.

“This is as a result of the 39 multiple taxes we already paying coupled with the epileptic power situation as we spend so much on diesel.’’

The Executive Secretary of ALTON, Mr Gbolahan Awonuga, said the 5% excise duty was not healthy for the industry, noting that the telecom service providers were already paying 2% of their annual revenue to the NCC.

He said, “We pay two per cent excise duty to NCC from our revenue, 7.5 per cent VAT and other 39 taxes. We are going to pass it to the subscribers because we cannot subsidise it.’’

Recall that it was reported earlier in May that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the collection of 5% as excise duty on telephone recharge cards and vouchers.

The charge is part of new items on the list of goods liable for excise duty on the Finance Act in the country.

Excise duty is a levy charged at the time of manufacturing. It is also a form of indirect tax on the sale or consumption of certain goods, products, services or activities such as tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, gambling etc., mainly to discourage their use and consumption. Nigeria’s Finance Act has extended the list to include beverages, non-alcoholic drinks etc.

According to reports, the Federal Government is expected to raise at least N150 billion from the duty as the collection was part of new items on the 2020 Finance Act signed by President Buhari.

Source: Nairametric

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