The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, unveiled plans to investigate the approval of Pioneer Status granted to private companies with a view to unravel revenue losses and tax evasion.
To this end, the House Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Hon Oluwole Oke has concluded plans to conduct a Status of Inquiry into the activities Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment Management and Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) as well as companies granted the Pioneer Status and associated incentives.
In line with the resolution passed by the House, the lawmakers alleged that many companies set up under the guise of direct foreign investment were taking advantage of loopholes in the scheme, to short-change the Federal Government of revenue in form of taxes and other fees accruable to it, but which are cleverly being evaded.
Worried by the development, Hon Oke, therefore, ruled that the regulatory authorities involved in the approval of Pioneer Status along with management teams of the companies in attracting and encouraging foreign investments should appear before it on April 27 with documents submitted by companies enjoying benefits of pioneer status till date.
The lawmaker also alleged that for some of the companies which allegedly involved in moving from one supervising agencies to the other before the expiration of the tax and other duties, exemption licenses granted them right from their commencement of operations in the country.
Hon Oke also directed all the affected government agencies to come along with the Chief Executive of the companies granted such status as tax holidays, concession in the import-export regime and conducive atmosphere within which to operate in Free Trade Zones.
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He said: “While the idea of granting pioneer status to manufacturing companies as a means of attracting foreign investment into the country is laudable, collision between investors and supervising Agencies to bleed the government by shortchanging it in revenue accruable to it will no longer be tolerated by parliament.
“Records available to us show some companies, among them the Aluminium Smelting Company located in Akwa Ibom State had since inception in 1981 not paid a kobo in tax to the Federal Government, rather specialising in jumping from one scheme to the other just before the expiration date of a current incentive.
Hon. Oke who vowed to ensure that justice is done alleged that such development “cannot be perfected without the collision of officials of supervising agencies.”
On the Auditor-General’s query on NIPC, Hon. Oke who frowned at the various infractions expressed grave concern over the extra-budgetary expenditures and non-remittance of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accrued to the coffers of the Council as a fully-funded government agency, in clear contradiction of financial regulations.
Hon. Oke mandated the Council, led to the investigative hearing by its Acting Executive Secretary, Emeka Offor, to submit two streams of annual budgets, the Appropriation budget and the IGR budgets so as assist the Committee in determining the level of the agency’s financial infractions.
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