The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, says the claim by the Chairperson of NIPOST Board, Maimuna Abubakar, that both the Service and the National Assembly appropriated NIPOST’s ideas about stamp duty to the exclusion of the postal service is untrue.
Recall that in a series of tweets at the weekend, Ms Abubakar had expressed worry over what she described as FIRS’ usurping of the constitutional mandate of NIPOST, saying “FIRS are now selling stamps instead of buying from us”.
“I am worried for NIPOST, having sleepless night because of NIPOST, we need the general public to come to our aid, FIRS stole our mandate.”
Reacting, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, Director, Communications and Liaison Department of FIRS, in a statement on Tuesday, said it was wrong for Ms Abubakar to treat the issue in that manner.
According to him, that necessitated the need to correct the impression in order not to mislead the public.
He said: “To be sure, NIPOST is a government parastatal (agency) 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 the government charged with the responsibility of assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties.
“The public is hereby reminded that we at the FIRS are resolute in our resolve to safeguard national interests and not any personal ego or interest as NIPOST officials appears to carry on lately.
“We, therefore, call on right-thinking Nigerians to disregard that ill-advised twit(sic) by Mrs Maimuna Abubakar and allied misinformation being disseminated by NIPOST in relation to Stamp Duties’ collection, which by law is the responsibility of the FIRS.”
