Senate passes bill to bar NIPOST from tax collection

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to effectively restrict Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to only postal operations in the country.

The Nigerian Postal Service (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2021, also unbundled the agency by creating a commission to regulate its affairs.

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The bill was passed following a clause-by-clause consideration of the reports by the Senate Committees on Communications, chaired by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central).

NIPOST and FIRS had been at loggerheads over which of the government’s agency is constitutionally backed to collect stamp duty taxes in the country. Both are claiming ownership of stamp duty collection.

Section two of the bill barred NIPOST from engaging in tax collection.

It reads: “There is hereby established a body to be known as the Nigerian Postal Service (hereby designated as the Public Postal Operator).

“The Postal Operator shall be charged with the responsibility of providing Universal Postal Service in Nigeria.

Giving a highlight of the NIPOST bill, Tinubu said clause 5(2) was inserted to specify the minimum qualifications for the appointment of the Postmaster-General.

The amendments were made following a proposal to that effect by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta Central) and seconded by the Deputy Whip, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi.