FG to pay over N300bn stamp duty backlogs to states -Abiodun

The Federal Government is set to pay state governments the backlog of stamp duties being owed them.

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State stated this in a letter made available to the Ogun State House of Assembly.

Abiodun was seeking the lawmakers’ approval for and payment of the consultancy fee, which will be deducted at source.

In the letter read at plenary on Tuesday by the Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, Abiodun disclosed that “the 36 States of the Federation filed a case in the Supreme Court seeking amongst other reliefs, the refund of all monies collected as stamp duties to State Governments from January 2015 to December 2022.”

However, at a meeting held on March 30, the governors, under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), had resolved to settle the matter out of court to enable the States to access the unremitted backlog.

Subsequently, it was said that the NGF engaged the services of a consultant known as Ajap Financial Services, Ltd. “to broker and facilitate payment to all States.

“As a result, the approval of Mr. Speaker and the Honourable Members of the House is hereby required for the deduction at source, a 5% consultancy fee to be paid to the NGF Consultant, AJAP Financial Services Ltd from the State’s share of the backlog recovered on Stamp Duties for the period between January 2015 to December 2022.”

The 36 state governments had in September 2021 dragged the Federal Government to court for refusing to remit funds generated from stamp duties into their accounts.

In their prayers, they requested the court to order the Federal Government to refund the money collected as stamp duties on individual persons’ transactions within their respective states from 2015 to 2020.

According to the governors, the power to collect stamp duties belongs to the states, not the Federal Government.

In January 2023, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said the amount collected as stamp duty between 2016 and 2022 stands at N370,686,315,505.28.

Credit: Daily Post