….Says N40bn-making agency remains analogue
The Post Master General of the Federation, Dr Ismail Adebayo Adewusi cried out the Finance Act is crippling the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). Adewusi’s alarm is coinciding with the very day President Muhamnadu Buhari wrote the National Assembly for amendments to the Act.
The PMG, who raised the alarm on Tuesday when members of the Senate Committee on Communications visited the national headquarters of the postal agency in Abuja , also lamented that the non release of N40 billion estimated for transforming its services from analogue to digital since 2005, has made it to remain backward in postal services.
According to him, the Finance Act 2020 predicated on Finance Bill 2019 passed by both chambers of the National Assembly has an injurious provision against NIPOST operations in terms of revenue generation.
“Specifically, the Act in one of its provisions, removed the legal mandate of NIPOST on stamp creation, which further worsened the inter-agency rivalry that had been existing between NIPOST and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on stamp duties collection.
“While billions of Naira as revenues from stamp duties have been lying idle with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the controversy of right of ownership between NIPOST and FIRS, the incapacitation of the agency from creating stamps , has further worsened its financial status.
“This is even as the federal government since 1998, stopped funding the agency as far as capital budget is concerned.
“The agency in the light of these overwhelming challenges, appeal to the Senate Committee on Communications to come to its rescue by amending provisions of the Financial Act incapacitating it from carrying out its traditional mandate of stamp creation with attendant crippling, financially.”
But members of the committee led by their chairman, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in their responses, tasked the Post Master General to think out of the box in confronting the challenges.
Tinubu in particular said “though the issue of Finance Act will be looked into by way of amendments since laws are not cast in stones but other challenges should be confronted within by thinking out of the box.”
“We are very much ready to support you on this wonderful initiatives with required legislations,” she said.
