By Dansu Peter
This was disclosed today, June 21, 2023, by the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami, at a stakeholder engagement ahead of the kickoff of the initiative held in Lagos, where market leaders from various parts of the country were gathered. Mr. Nami said the initiative is targeted at capturing the informal sector of the economy, which the Service has found difficult to capture for tax payment for a very long time. He, however, thanked the Market Traders Association of Nigeria, MATAN, and its national steering committee led by Ambassador Olakunle Johnson for coming up with the idea of solving a longtime problem for the service. The initiative, according to the tax chief, will bring traders across the nation closer to the government, as the scheme is designed to capture the information of all traders in the nation and unify it in a data system.
The Director of VAT, Mrs. Lovette Onanuga, speaking at the three-day stakeholders engagement in Lagos, said the new tax scheme for market men and women comes with incentives for loyal payees nationwide. She listed free medical services, zero-interest loans, security in market places, and insurance for traders and investments as the incentives. The VAT Director also thanked Ambassador Olakunle Moses Johnson, who chairs the steering committee of MATAN, and other stakeholders who have contributed to the success of the initiative for breaking the age-long barrier between the informal sector traders and the government. She said that with this newfound mutual agreement between the government and the market men and women, the government will do everything possible to sustain it and also help the traders grow their businesses.
On the implementation of the initiative, Mrs. Lovette said the scheme will commence immediately with the data capture of all traders and market men and women in all 36 states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. She said the initiative will collaborate with the necessary security personnel for its enforcement.
Prominent market leaders at the program were the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Chief Mrs. Folashade-Ojo Tinubu, the daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who sent a representative, as she is currently in Saudi Arabia for Hadji. Others are Iyaloja General of Oyo State, Mrs. Folashade Abeo, Iyaloja of Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, and other market leaders from the northern, southern, and Eastern parts of Nigeria.
Other stakeholders in the VAT Direct Initiative are the Joint Tax Board (JTB), Burke Frazer, a consulting firm, Sterling Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, and Guarantee Trust Bank, among others.
More photos from the event
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