The Federal Government has removed VAT and customs duty payments from cooking gas imports. TheCable reports that this move is geared towards crashing the price of the essential commodity.  

The Ministry of Finance conveyed this decision in a letter dated November 28, 2023 and addressed to several officials including the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, signed the letter.

The letter in part reads

“In line with His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the investment climate in Nigeria, increasing the supply of LPG to meet local demand, reducing market prices and promoting clean cooking practices, I hereby affirm Presidential directive dated July 29, 2022, with reference number PRES/88/MPR/99.

Accordingly, the importation of LPG utilizing HS Codes 2711.12.00.00, 2711.13.00.00 and 2711.19.00.00 is exempt from Import Duty and Value-Added Tax. Consequently, the Importation of LPG shall incur a 0% duty rate and 0% VAT rate, effective immediately.”

The ministry also directed the Nigerian Customs Service to comply with the presidential directive, dated July 29, 2022, and withdraw all debit notes issued to petroleum marketers who have imported LPG “using codes 2711.1.2.00.00 and 2711.13.00.00 from August 26, 2019, to the present date”.

Other items exempted from VAT and duty payment are LPG cylinders, LPG cascades, gas leak detectors, steel pipes, steel valves and fittings, LPG dispensers, gas generators, and LPG trucks, among others.

In a significant policy shift, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended processing fees on large cash deposits, affecting amounts over N500,000 for individual accounts and N3,000,000 for corporate accounts.

Lifestyle Nigeria reports that this announcement is a reversal of the policy introduced on September 19, 2019 which previously attracted processing fees of 2% and 3%, respectively on deposits.

The original policy aimed to reduce cash usage by imposing fees on withdrawals and lodgments.

For corporate accounts, banks were set to charge 5% processing fees for withdrawals and 3% for lodgments exceeding N3,000,000.

Effective immediately, the CBN has put a hold on these charges, until the end of April 2024 in an aim to encourage larger cash deposits, boost liquidity, and positively impact various sectors, including businesses.

Additionally, CBN revised the over-the-counter cash withdrawal limits, effective January 9, 2023, with processing fees of 5% and 10% for amounts exceeding N100,000 and N500,000 per week for individuals and corporate entities, respectively.

The directive mandates all financial institutions regulated by the CBN to comply by not imposing any charges on cash deposits that meet or exceed these thresholds.

27 of the 31 lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have formally defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC bringing new fears for the embattled governor of the state, Simi Fubara.

The defection was carried out on Monday morning.

. had earlier reported the plot by the lawmakers to defect citing informed sources in Rivers State and the FCT.

The defection followed a meeting the lawmakers had in Abuja last weekend where the decision was taken to change camp from the PDP to the APC.

. had also reported that the political leader of the 27 lawmakers, that is Nyesom Wike, had recently been invested with the structure of the APC in Rivers State, becoming the first political actor to control the structures of the two parties in a state.

The decision of the 27 lawmakers to defect is expected to heighten the political dynamics in Rivers State as it trails the falling out of Governor Simi Fubara from the camp of his predecessor, Wike.

One consideration for the Rivers lawmakers not to defect according to informed sources was the decision to wait for the Supreme Court judgment on the petition filed against Fubara by the APC candidate in the election, Tonye Cole. The Rivers lawmakers and their guardian have, however, decided to brave the odds and now isolate the governor with the decision to defect.

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