….As Adeosun tells Japanese Councilors: Nigeria is a good place to invest

The hunt for more revenue may take new dimension as the Federal Government has ordered vendors of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to henceforth, display their Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) on their invoices before payments are effected by the MDAs.

The directive was handed down to the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris on Tuesday in Abuja by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, noting that the directive was due to the N100 billion discovered as tax revenue shortfall by contractors between 2012 and 2017.

Adeosun, in a memo entitled “Compliance with Tax Payments by Federal Government Vendors”, disclosed that persistent leakages in revenue remittances by vendors had been uncovered.

She said that the discovery was made by the Federal Government’s Project Lighthouse, a systemwide revenue intelligence data-warehouse.

The leakages, according to her, are due to lack of TIN, particularly on Value Added Tax (VAT), Withholding Tax (WHT) and other related inflows into the government coffers.

“In order to address these lapses in the implementation of the 2017 Budget as well as boost the revenue accruable to the government, all MDAs should be directed to insist that invoices submitted by vendors for payments must clearly state the TIN.

“This is to enable us confirm tax compliance by relevant government vendors before payments are effected,’’ she said.

Adeosun said that the directive to the government vendors was in compliance with the provisions of both the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Procurement Acts of 2007 respectively.

She said that the order would assist the government to block revenue leakages by the MDAs’ vendors.

The minister said that spot checks would be undertaken on MDAs to confirm compliance with the directive

In the meantime, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun on Tuesday pleaded with visiting delegation of Japanese House of Councilors Parliamentarians, the huge investment potentials of the country, even as she revealed that Nigeria has authorized the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to start the repayment of 76 million dollars polio eradication facility to Japan.

“Nigeria is a good place to invest because it is a rising investment destination.

“I promise that the government will make life easy for Japanese investors wishing to do business in Nigeria”, the Minister told the delegation in Abuja, noting that the team was in Nigeria to assess the level of usage of Overseas Development Assistance (ODAs) extended to Nigeria since 2014.

She added that the authority to trigger repayment was given to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation following the eradication of polio in the country.

She noted that the eradication of polio was made possible as a result of the ODA facility provided by the Japanese Government valued at 76 million dollars in 2014.

She recalled that the ODA was structured for repayment after four years and that by this development, Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation would start repaying the facility to Japan this year.

Adeosun while marketing Nigeria to the Japanese delegation noted that Nigeria was fast growing and evolving from negative areas to positive areas through its determined fight against corruption.

She added that “because Nigeria is a middle income country, we will require the expertise of Japanese companies for infrastructure development.

In his address, the leader of the delegation, Mr Kiyoshi Ejima, described Nigeria as a power house with rich natural resources with which Japan tried to strengthen relationship with.

Nigeria, he said, had set the target of becoming one of the top 20 economies by the year 2020 and he assured that “Japan will support Nigeria toward realizing its 2020 target.”