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…orders status enquiry
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Account has alleged that some foreign companies operating in the country were colluding with some agencies of government to deny the Federal Government if accruable revenue.
Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Oluwole Oke who expressed sadness over the development at the resumed investigative hearing by the committee said these companies were busy jumping from one incentive introduced by the government to the other as a way of evading tax.
The Committee there ordered a Status Inquiry into the activities of government agencies granting Pioneer Status and associated incentives to investors operating in the country, in other to determine whose interests they are really serving.
When the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council NIPC appeared before the committee of Tuesday, Oke said it became glaring that many companies setup under the guise of direct foreign investment were taking adantage of loopholes in the scheme and the laws setting up such schemes to short-change the government in taxes and other fees accruable to it, but which are cleverly being evaded.
He directed that the NIPC and other agencies operating the various schemes granting incentives to companies as a way of attracting and encouraging foreign Investments should appear before it on the he 27th April with documents submitted by companies enjoying benefits of pioneer status, and are still doing so till date, due to acts perfected by them ln jumping from one supervising agency to the other before the expiration of tax and other duties exemption licenses granted them right from their commencement of operations
in the country.
Oke said each such government agency must come along with the chief executive of companies granted such status as tax holidays, consession in import-export regime and conducive atmosphere within which to operate in Free Trade Zones, for the opportunity of convincing the committee the justification of their continued their status.
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 shortchangng it in revenue accruable to it will no longer be tolerated by parliament”
“Records available to us show some companies, among them the Aluminium Smelter Company located in Akwa Ibom state had since inception in 1981 not paid a kobo in tax to the FG, rather specialising in jumping from one scheme to the other just before the expiration date of a current incentive.
“Such deals cannot be perfected without the collision of officials of supervising agencies”.