The Representatives of leaders of Nigeria’s banking system on Monday met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, to seek more clarifications on the recent Windfall Levy established by the National Assembly.
Among those who met with the President were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Ladi Balogun and the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zacch Adedeji.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Edun, disclosed that the bankers sought insight into the tax regime, particularly the Windfall Levy, passed by the National Assembly.
He said the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, explained the government’s intention to simplify the tax regime, focusing on taxing profits, and leave companies’ capital alone to grow.
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Edun described the meeting as amicable, knowledge-based, and data-driven, with President Tinubu, an accountant and financial expert, actively engaging in the discussion.
He said, “We know at this time that the banking system is raising money. They’re selling shares, they’re giving people an opportunity to participate in their wealth, and that includes foreign investors. So it’s against that background that Mr. Elumelu and Mr. Balogun wanted some clarifications, particularly on the windfall levy that has just been passed by the National Assembly.
“Chairman of FIRS gave some insight, particularly into the fact that under President Bola Tinubu, the idea is to simplify the tax regime, as much as possible, make it more efficient and less costly for people to even file their taxes and critically to focus on the wealth that’s created, not to focus on the companies that maybe are not doing so well, or to focus on their capital, to leave their capital alone, to grow and make sure that the emphasis is on taxing and levying only the returns, only the profits.
“In this particular case, as we know, the banking system has enjoyed some, what we’ll call windfall or on hand profits and in the interest of distributing wealth across the Nigerian society, the government has stepped in to take some of that wealth on behalf of Nigerians.”
Also speaking, Elumelu expressed the need to democratise prosperity for Nigerians, ensuring access to a good life for all and expressing support for the government’s Windfall Levy, which he said is aimed at alleviating poverty.
He stressed the importance of mutual prosperity, where businesses thrive, jobs are created, and investors – both foreign and local – benefit, ultimately leading to a happier society.
“We believe that where extraordinary income has been made a part of, it should go towards helping to alleviate poverty in the country, which is what the government intends to do.
“We support that and we just believe that we should make sure that no one segment suffers and that the government is able to continue to create jobs and that businesses are also able to do well because we need mutual prosperity.”
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