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FG Implements Cooking Gas Imports Tax, Price Jumps By 100%

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3 years ago

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The Federal Government has implemented a 7.5 percent tax on imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, as the cost of the commodity leap by over 100 percent within a period of eight months.

It was gathered on Sunday that the government implemented the VAT on LPG imports about three weeks ago and some dealers were also mandated to pay the tax for commodities imported several months ago.

Operators told our correspondent that Nigeria imports about 70 percent of the commodity, while the rest was mainly supplied by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company.

It was also gathered that the cost of a 12.5kg of cooking gas that sold for about N3,500 in December 2020 had jumped to as high as N6,800 in parts of Abuja.

A resident along the Lagos-Ibadan road said she bought the commodity on Sunday at N7,200 in Lagos, as dealers projected that the cost might hit N10,000 in December this year.

Operators stated the development had made small businesses and homes in rural and semi-urban areas to revert to firewood and charcoal, as the purchase of cooking gas had plunged in recent months.

The National Chairman, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association of Nigeria, Michael Umudu, said there were three factors that caused the surge in price.

He said, “There are three major factors to the hike in prices. Firstly, about 70 percent of the gas we consume in Nigeria is imported and importers have to contend with the high cost of foreign exchange.

“Secondly, there is a rise in the price of petroleum products in the international market and because of that, the cost of LPG has equally gone up. So importers now pay more on imports.

“And thirdly, the government added VAT on imported LPG about three weeks ago. It (VAT) was 7.5 percent of the cost of the commodity and this exacerbated the price hike of cooking gas in the past three weeks.”

Umudu stated that before the introduction of VAT, foreign exchange and the cost of petroleum products in the international market had been the factors causing the rise in price.

“Around November/December last year, 12.5kg was sold at about N3,500, but in July it went up to around N5,500 and when VAT was introduced about three weeks ago, it now escalated to about N6,500 and above,” he stated.

Umudu added, “The price hike seems to be happening on a daily basis and nobody can tell when it will stop. There has been a lot of appeal to the government to find a way of persuading NLNG to increase its domestic supply so that the product can be affordable.

“NLNG supplies about 35 percent of the gas we consume locally and that percentage is not adequate. And the gas sold by NLNG is even sold at an international price and is priced in dollar, not naira.”

On the cost of the commodity in metric tonnes, Umudu, replied, “20MT is now in the average of about N8m. And before VAT was introduced, the price of 20MT was around N6.8m to N7m, which was the highest price then.”

He noted that consequent to that, there has been an upsurge in the use of firewood and other alternative energy sources nowadays.

“If you come to Lagos, you will see heaps of firewood like groundnut pyramids. Many people who use LPG to run their small businesses cannot cope again because of the price. They are in crisis right now; some of them are now using firewood, others, charcoal,” he stated.

Umudu added, “Many people in the rural and semi-urban areas are dropping their cylinders. Those who find it difficult to get alternatives are actually going through a very hard time.”

Also speaking on the issue, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Bassey Essien, said the cost of 12.5kg gas could hit N10,000 in December.

He said, “If by December they (government) don’t take time to address this surge, it (12.5kg) will be N10,000. We are not the one causing this, rather it is the government. We sell what we get.”

On what could be done, he replied, “The volume we produce in Nigeria is just about 40 percent of the total consumption; the rest is imported. And you don’t have a forex window for these people to access to import gas.

“And secondly, you suddenly woke up and said you want to start imposing VAT on imported gas, which was removed several years back. And now, you didn’t even start it fresh, rather you said it is going to be in retrospect, starting from several months back.”

He added, “And you are imposing billions in taxes on gas imports, for instance, you ask one company to pay about N4bn as tax. Now if they pay that money, some other person needs to shoulder this cost.”

On what the government was doing about the development, the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Garba-Deen Muhammad, said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had said the commodity was deregulated.

Muhammed, who served as the media aide to Sylva before switching to become NNPC spokesperson recently, said, “The minister answered this question during his last press briefing two weeks ago.”

At the briefing, Sylva had said, “We are not in a position to determine gas pricing because gas is not a regulated product. But, of course, we are also very concerned that prices are rising and so I am actually doing something about it in the interest of the ordinary Nigerian.

“I am calling some of the suppliers to discuss the reason for this hike.”

He added that the intervention was outside the government’s role.

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BIG STORY

Yahaya Bello: EFCC Confirms Refund Of $760,000 From American International School Abuja

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31 mins ago

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April 27, 2024

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The American International School in Abuja has reimbursed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the amount of $760,910 that it was previously paid by former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello for his children’s advanced school fees.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesperson, verified this on Saturday.

The school requested the anti-graft agency’s “authentic banking details” in a letter dated October 24, 2022, in order to pay the reimbursement “as part of investigation into the alleged money laundering activities by the Bello family.”

The sum of $845,852 was said to be paid to the school between September 2021 and October 2022. The school said it deducted the educational services rendered between the period, with the remaining amount being $760,910.

The EFCC is prosecuting Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion. The matter is before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

EFCC chief Ola Olukoyede, who vowed to prosecute Bello or resign, alleged that the embattled ex-governor withdrew $720,000 from the state’s accounts to pay his child’s school fees in advance just before he left office on January 27, 2024.

The anti-graft commission had declared Bello wanted after his successor, Governor Usman Ododo allegedly whisked him away on April 17, 2024, preventing EFCC operatives to arrest him (Bello) when they laid siege to his Abuja residence.

Meanwhile, a Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja has ordered EFCC chairman to appear in court on May 13, 2024, to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against him for allegedly disobeying court order.

The EFCC boss is facing a contempt charge for carrying out “some acts upon which they (the EFCC) have been restrained” by the Court on February 9, 2024, pending the determination of the substantive Originating Motion.

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BIG STORY

Yahaya Bello: Kogi Court Summons EFCC Chairman Olukoyede Over Alleged Contempt

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3 hours ago

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April 27, 2024

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Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been directed by a Kogi State High Court in Lokoja to appear in court on May 13, 2024, to provide justification for not having an order of committal placed against him for allegedly defying a court order.

A contempt charge has been brought against the EFCC chairman for executing “some acts upon which they (the EFCC) have been restrained” by the Court on February 9, 2024, while the Originating Motion’s merits are being determined.

Justice I. A. Jamil, delivering a ruling in Suit No: HCL/68M/2024 and Motion No: HCL/190M/2024, ordered that “the said act was carried out by the Respondent (EFCC) in violation of the order, which was valid and subsisting when they carried out the act. That same act of the Respondent amounts to Contempt.

EFCC operatives had laid siege on the residence of the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as early as 8 am on April 17, 2024, with a bid to arrest him, despite a court order restraining them from taking such action, pending the determination of the Originating Motion.

Justice Jamil’s order was based on a motion ex-parte filed by Yahaya Bello through his lawyer, M.S. Yusuf, where he prayed to the court for an order to issue and serve the Respondent (EFCC Chairman) with Form 49 Notice to show cause why Order of committal should not be made on Olukoyede.

Having listened to the arguments of the Applicant’s counsel, the submission and the exhibits attached in the Written Address, Justice Jamil granted Yahaya Bello’s prayers and ordered Olukoyede to be summoned to appear before the court to answer the contempt charge.

Delivering his order on the motion on April 25, 2024, Justice Jamil said, “The applicant’s application before me is to the effect that the Respondent has carried out some acts upon which they have been restrained by this Court on the 9th of February, 2024, pending the determination of the substantive motion on Notice before this Court.

“That the said act was carried out by the Respondent in violation of the order which was valid and subsisting when they carried out those acts. That same acts of the Respondent amount to acts of contempt.

“That the Respondent should be summoned to appear before this Court to answer to the contempt charge.

“It’s against the above facts that this Court hereby grants the prayers sought in line with the principle of “Audi Ultra Patem”. To wit:

“An order of this Honourable Court for the issuance of Form 49 Notice to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against the Executive Chairman of the Respondent – Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“An order for service of Form 49-Notice to show why an order of committal should not be made on the Executive Chairman of the Respondent – Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at EFCC Corporate Headquarters, Plot 301/302, Research and Institution District, Abuja.

“This matter is adjourned to the 13th of May, 2024 for the Respondent’s Chairman to appear before this Court in answer to form 49 ordered to be served on him.”

 

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BIG STORY

Naira Depreciates Because I Was Out Of The Country — Odumeje

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15 hours ago

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April 27, 2024

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The Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry’s Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanemere, popularly known as Odumeje, declared that he had returned to Nigeria in an effort to halt the dollar’s appreciation relative to the Nigerian Naira.

Odumeje, in a video recorded at the airport while returning from London, boasted: “This is Indaboski Bahose. The war and the battle. A man full of power and activities. The only man who tells you, “I will bring down a dollar,” and he gets it done. When I left the country, dollar began to rise; now, I am back, I will continue where I stopped.”

In a video recording of one of his church programmes a few weeks ago, the self-acclaimed prophet had claimed that the exchange rate of dollar to naira came down because of one of his powers, which he dubbed ‘Abidoshaker.’

His claims came on the heels of the Nigerian currency’s significant gains after exchanging at N1,920 per dollar.

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