President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with distinguished banker, economist, and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, CFR, on his 60th birthday, March 22, 2023, sharing joy and warmth of the occasion with the entrepreneur, who was ranked amongst World’s 100 most influential personalities in 2020 by Time.

President Buhari felicitates with the Chairman of the United Bank of Africa (UBA) Group on the milestone, affirming the honor and pride that the benefactor has brought to Nigeria, and Africa, with his achievements, lighting the way for many to grow through inspiration, mentorship and training, with focus on raising generation of entrepreneurs.

The President believes Elumelu’s benevolence typifies his humble background and upbringing, starting out as a young banker, daring to dream of a modern and technologically friendly financial institution, Standard Trust Bank, and leading one of the biggest mergers with the UBA, which made history and strengthened the economy.

President Buhari notes the combination of youthfulness in style, broadness in networking, with both old and young, and the passion in pursuing and realizing dreams that the entrepreneur continually projects, graciously guiding others to nurture their business ideas to reality, especially in meeting societal needs and rendering value.

As the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp and Tony Elumelu Foundation clocks 60, the President joins family members, particularly his wife, Dr Awele Elumelu, in thanksgiving to God for all the resourcefulness and impact, with brighter future ahead.

President Buhari prays for long life, good health and wisdom for the Humanitarian.

Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, says President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the exemption of the telecommunications sector from the proposed 5 percent excise duty.

Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, disclosed this on Tuesday at a news conference organised by the presidential review committee on excise duty in Abuja.

In May 2022, Buhari had approved the collection of a 5 percent excise duty on telephone recharge cards and vouchers.

The charge was part of new items on the list of goods liable for excise duty in the country’s Finance Act.

Excise duty is a levy charged at the time of manufacturing. It is also a form of indirect tax on the sale or consumption of certain goods, products, services or activities such as tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, gambling etc., mainly to discourage their use and consumption.

Nigeria’s Finance Act has extended the list to include beverages, non-alcoholic drinks and many others.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance and national budget, had in July last year, said the government would begin the implementation of the 5 percent inclusive excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria.

The statement triggered widespread criticism from Nigerians, including telecom operators, and Pantami who faulted the timing and process of implementation, saying he was not informed.

In September, the minister announced that the 5 percent excise duty on telecommunications services had been suspended.

Speaking on the issue at the press briefing on Tuesday, Pantami said Buhari had on March 6 approved the exemption of the digital economy sector on from the 5 percent excise duty because it would harm Nigerians.

He said 41 categories of taxes, levies, and charges are already in the digital economy sector; hence there is no justification for an additional excise.

“There is no need for excise duty in the telecom sector because the industry is already heavily taxed up to 41 taxes,” the minister said.

“The sector has been contributing hugely to Nigeria’s economy; more tax burden destroys the industry.

“We increased revenue generated by 594 percent from N51 billion quarterly to N481 billion quarterly.

“This is the only sector where the prices of services have been reduced. There is no justification for the government to impose more burden on its poor Citizens.

“Many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and small medium enterprises (SMEs) depend on the sector for survival; if the tax is increased, the impact will take a toll on these businesses.”

On his part, Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), reiterated the commission’s commitment to improving the telecom industry.

Danbatta said the reduction of data had been the main target of the commission, adding that the average 1 gigabit of data had dropped to N335 from N350.

He also urged Nigerians to report mobile network operators charging exorbitant prices for data.

The policy-setting committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures interest rate, from 17.5 percent to 18 percent.

Last week, Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 21.9 percent amid the lingering scarcity of cash.

The monetary policy rate (MPR) is the baseline interest rate in an economy, every other interest rate used within an economy is built on it.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, announced the development to journalists on Tuesday after the committee’s meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.

More to come…