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Stamp Duty: Malami writes 36 governors over stamp duty compliance

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has written letters to the 36 governors over compliance with the audit and recovery of back years of stamp duty from January 15, 2016 to June 30, 2020. The minister’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Jibrilu Gwandu, said this in a statement on yesterday titled “Stamp duty: No recoveries yet as Malami writes 36 governors”. This was revealed in a statement by Malami’s media aide, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, yesterday.

The letter reads in part, “Pursuant to Mr. President’s approval and directives, I also wish to request Your Excellency to direct the state Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Regulatory Institutions of Financial Sector to engage and grant access to the appointed Recovery Agents for the purpose of the Audit and Recovery of Stamp Duty to ensure that all established liabilities are remitted as appropriate.” According to him, the recovery is being conducted for Federal Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Financial Institutions. “Section 111 of the Stamp Duty Act granted the Attorney General of the Federation an exclusive power to recover any outstanding payment or remittances related to stamp duty,” the minister wrote.

“The letters were written pursuant to the provision of Section 111 of the Stamp Duty Act which provides that “all duties, fines, penalties and debts due to the Government of the Federation imposed by this Act shall be recoverable in a summarily manner in the name of the Attorney General of the Federation or the State,” Gwandu added. He said what Malami did was to activate those powers, conduct the audit and recovery of back years stamp duty in collaboration with stakeholders. The aide said the Federal Government had set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back years Stamp Duties from 15th January, 2016 to 30th June, 2020.

Gwandu said, “Members of the committee were drawn from Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in collaboration with relevant Agencies including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission, among others. “In view of the need to provide a comprehensive overview of the process and to proper understanding the task, the Attorney General of the Federation organized a meeting with Attorneys General of States for they have similar powers with respect of stamp duty of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Financial Institutions in their respective states,” he said. The statement said in view of the need to provide a comprehensive overview of the process and to proper understanding the task, the Attorney General of the Federation organized a meeting with Attorneys General of states for they have similar powers with respect of stamp duty of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Financial Institutions in their respective states.”

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