Economy
Rivers Govt to Jail Tax Evaders from 2019
By Dipo Olowookere
Those in the habit of evading tax in Rivers State have been warned to desist from such because from 2019, they will not escape prison term.
Chairman of the Rivers State Internal Revenue Service (RIRS), Mr Adoage Norteh, who gave this warning, said the state government will no longer condone such act from next year.
Mr Norteh boasted that with the new system put in place by his agency, it would be very difficult for anybody or company to evade tax again in the state.
He said that the state would no longer be involved in tax auditing in the field, adding that no company would be able to file its annual returns without paying its tax up to date.
While addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt last Thursday, the taxman said under the new Rivers State Tax Management Information System also known as RIVTAMIS, nobody or firm would be able to dodge paying tax, emphasising that defaulting firms and individual would be discovered.
He said apart from closing all loopholes, which some tax payers take advantage of to evade tax, the newly introduced RIVTAMIS would make tax payment less stressful to individuals and companies.
Explaining that the RIRS was working towards making tax practice in the state a reference point from next year, he added that the new system had improved the tax compliance level of businessmen and other taxpayers.
Mr Norteh pointed out that the RIRS would soon embark on an extensive advertisement to sensitise members of the public to what the state internal revenue service was planning to do in January 2019.
“From January 2019, it will be very difficult for individuals and companies to evade tax. I don’t think that by next year, people will dodge tax under my watch. I cannot say that all will pay, but a large number of people will pay,” Mr Norteh said.
He said further that, “Those who eventually evade tax would risk going to prison because we will prosecute them. We have taken a lot of people to court. Time has come when we will begin to send people to prison for tax evasion. When we begin to send people to prison, they will understand what we are talking about.”
“Even as we speak, there is a person who may start his life from January in prison because of tax issues. We don’t want to ambush taxpayers and that is why we have put a system that will make things easier for them (taxpayers),” the tax chief said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears consolidated their dominance on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday, inflicting an additional 0.09 per cent cut on the market.
At midweek, the market capitalisation of the domestic stock exchange went down by N73 billion to N124.754 trillion from the preceding day’s N124.827 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) slipped by 114.32 points to 194,370.20 points from 194,484.52 points.
A look at the sectoral performance showed that only the consumer goods index closed in green, gaining 1.19 per cent due to buying pressure.
However, sustained profit-taking weakened the insurance space by 3.79 per cent, the banking index slumped by 2.07 per cent, the energy counter went down by 0.24 per cent, and the industrial goods sector shrank by 0.22 per cent.
Business Post reports that 25 equities ended on the gainers’ chart, and 54 equities finished on the losers’ table, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
RT Briscoe lost 10.00 per cent to sell for N10.35, ABC Transport crashed by 10.00 per cent to N6.75, SAHCO depreciated by 9.98 per cent to N139.35, Haldane McCall gave up 9.93 per cent to trade at N3.99, and Vitafoam Nigeria decreased by 9.93 per cent to N112.50.
Conversely, Jaiz Bank gained 9.95 per cent to settle at N14.03, Okomu Oil appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N1,765.00, Trans-nationwide Express chalked up 9.77 per cent to close at N2.36, Fortis Global Insurance moved up by 9.72 per cent to 79 Kobo, and Champion Breweries rose by 5.39 per cent to N17.60.
Yesterday, 1.4 billion shares worth N46.2 billion were transacted in 70,222 deals compared with the 1.1 billion shares valued at N53.4 billion traded in 72,218 deals a day earlier, implying a rise in the trading volume by 27.27 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 13.48 per cent and 2.76 per cent, respectively.
Fortis Global Insurance ended the session as the busiest stock after trading 193.7 million units for N152.7 million, Zenith Bank transacted 120.7 million units worth N11.1 billion, Japaul exchanged 114.8 million units valued at N407.0 million, Ellah Lakes sold 98.4 million units worth N999.2 million, and Access Holdings traded 63.1 million units valued at N1.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 74 Kobo or 0.05 per cent decline was recorded by the Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, February 25, trading at N1,356.11/$1 compared with the N1,355.37/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.
The Nigerian currency also further depreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session in the official market by N6.70 to settle at N1,834.96/£1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,828.26/£1, and against the Euro, it tumbled by N4.94 to quote at N1,598.59/€1 compared with the previous session’s N1,596.36/€1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira lost N6 against the Dollar at the GTBank forex desk to close at N1,367/$1, in contrast to N1,361/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, and in the parallel market, it traded flat at N1,365/$1.
The continuation of the decline of the local currency has been tied to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buying US Dollars from the market to slow the rapid rise of the Naira.
The apex bank bought about $189.80 million to reduce excess Dollar supply and control how fast the Naira was gaining value.
The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the CBN on Tuesday reduced interest rates by 50 basis points to 26.50 per cent from 27 per cent after inflation eased in January 2026, a move analysts say is the best not to unsettle FX market, especially the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI_ inflows which have anchored much of the recent supply and weakened the recently restored monetary credibility.
“The 50bps move therefore provides a clear directional signal while still keeping overall monetary conditions restrictive, indicating the start of a shallow, data-dependent easing cycle rather than a radical shift to accommodative policy,” said Mr Kayode Akindele, CEO, Coronation Capital and Head, Coronation Research in an email.
As for the cryptocurrency market, benchmarked tokens rebounded in double digits, driven by bearish positioning and thin liquidity rather than by clear fundamental catalysts, with Cardano (ADA) growing by 16.2 per cent to $0.3015, and Solana (SOL) appreciating by 12.3 per cent to $88.66.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) surged 11.9 per cent to $2,076.66, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 11.5 per cent to $57.15, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 11.5 per cent to $0.1025, Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 7.6 per cent to $629.76, Ripple (XRP) jumped 7.2 per cent to $1.45, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 6.4 per cent to sell for $68,136.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled largely unchanged on Wednesday amid a build in American crude stockpile and the threat to oil supply from potential military conflict between the US and Iran.
Brent futures chalked up 8 cents to trade at $70.85 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled lost 21 cents to close at $65.42 per barrel.
Crude oil inventories in the US increased by 16 million barrels during the week ending February 20, according to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.
The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 435.8 million barrels according to government data, which is still 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
The EIA’s data release follows figures by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories rose by a massive 11.4 million barrels in the period.
The market continued to weigh the possibility extended conflict could disrupt supplies from Iran, the third-biggest crude producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other countries in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump verbally attacked Iran, saying he would not allow a country he described as the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon.
This comes as US envoys are due to meet an Iranian delegation for a third round of talks on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Reuters reported that OPEC+ is considering raising its oil output by 137,000 barrels per day for April to end a three-month pause in production increases. This is as the group prepares for peak summer demand and tensions between the US and Iran boost prices.
Eight OPEC+ producers – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman – meet on March 1.
An increase of 137,000 barrels per day for April would be the same as those agreed for December, November and October last year.
In a separate development, Saudi Arabia has activated a plan for a short-term oil output and export surge in case a US strike on Iran disrupts flows from the Middle East, said two sources familiar with the Saudi plan.
Tariff uncertainty also further worried investors after President Trump’s temporary global tariff of 10 per cent took effect on Tuesday after the Supreme Court’s sweeping ruling last week. He later said the levy would be 15 per cent, but it was unclear when and if it would apply.
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