Brand owners under the aegis of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, an organised private sector, OPS, have lauded President Bola Tinubu for signing four executive orders, including the suspension of the 5% excise tax on telecommunication services, as well as the excise duties escalation on locally manufactured products.
The signing of the executive orders help to eliminate the looming existential threat on some sub-sectors in the manufacturing landscape.
A statement signed by its Director General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir said, “It is therefore worthy of commendation that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took due and far-sighted notice and consideration of the concerns. In keeping with the trend of positive policy initiatives that we have seen with his administration, the four executive orders released has put paid to the anxieties of manufacturers in the affected sectors in particular and operators in the expansive value chain in general. The suspension of the obnoxious aspects of the 2023 Fiscal Policy Measures, which arbitrarily imposed additional tax burden on the manufacturing sector, is a welcome development and has removed a looming clog on its operations and productivity. Manufacturers in the affected sector are pleased and we can now reconnect with our projections and plans made in the beginning of the year. We expect that the Customs Service will now stand down the requirements for compliance with the excise escalation and the registration for the green tax.
“Going forward, MAN will continue to value fruitful dialogue and engagement with the government, with a view to improving the manufacturing environment in particular and the economy in general. The sector is already strained by several familiar challenges, including high interest rate and inadequate long-term fund, poor infrastructure, low demand for locally manufactured products, high energy cost in the face of low energy supply, multiple taxation etc.”
Also, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in a statement signed by Dele Kelvin Oye Esq, NACCIMA President disclosed that it welcomes the recent interventions by the Federal Government on some recent tax changes. We appreciate the administration’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerian businesses are not unduly burdened by unfavourable policies.
“We note that the tax changes were intended to raise revenue while addressing important public health and environmental concerns. However, the lack of adequate notice and clarity on the implementation of the changes has resulted in significant challenges for affected businesses, including rising costs, falling margins and capacity underutilization.
“We commend the decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign executive orders deferring the commencement of the tax changes as contained in the Finance Act and Customs, Excise Tariff (Variation) Amendment Order. We also support the suspension of the 5% Excise Tax on telecommunication services, the Excise Duties escalation on locally manufactured products, the Green Tax on Single Use Plastics, including plastic containers and bottles, and the Import Tax Adjustment levy on certain vehicles.”
MAN urged the federal to keep engaging stakeholders in the interest of achieving economic growth an development.
“We look forward to further engagements that will give fillip to the new policy measures President Tinubu has enunciated, so that the challenges that would emerge could be effectively mitigated. For instance, one can see the possibility of inadequacy of forex and a lot of pragmatism is needed to ensure a massive inflow and strategic release,” it stated.