The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malam (SAN), has written letters to all the governors of the 36 states over stamp duty recoveries.
This is even as he said in the letter that the law empowered his office to recover such duties.
The 36 governors under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had filed a suit before the Supreme Court over alleged non-remittance of N176 billion stamp duties between 2015 and 2020.
The states contended that under Section 4(2) of the Stamp Duties Act, they are the sole authorities empowered to administer and collect stamp duties on all transactions involving individuals/persons within their respective states.
In the letter to the governors, shared by the media aide to the minister, Dr Umar Gwandu, the A-GF said there had been no stamp duty recoveries so far, but that the Federal Government had set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back years Stamp Duties from January 15, 2016 to June 30, 2020.
“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,” the letter reads in part.
