Economy
Plans to Make FIRS Sole Tax Collector Rattle Experts
By Adedapo Adesanya
The new plan being mulled by the federal government to ensure that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) becomes the sole tax collector in the country is making some experts raise eyebrows.
The head of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, on Wednesday, said the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and 62 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are not meant to collect revenue directly.
“Ironically, our cost of collection is one of the highest, and the reason for that is that we’ve got all manners of agencies. The federal government alone had 63 MDAs given revenue targets last year in the 2023 budget.
“And two things that would come up from that: on the one hand, these agencies are being distracted from doing their primary function, which is to facilitate the economy. Number two, they were not set up to collect revenue, so they won’t be able to collect revenue efficiently.
“So, move those revenue collection functions to the FIRS. It has two advantages: the cost of collection and efficiency will improve, these guys will focus on their work, and the economy will benefit as a result,” he said in an interview on Channels TV.
The possibility of this has raised eyebrows, with many worried that it will see a pushback from these agencies with revenue-generating mandates.
According to the Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr Olusola Obadimu, the idea of taking away revenue collection from customs or the other MDAs would contradict the existing targets already set for them to accomplish.
“If you want to take revenue-collecting responsibility from customs, why did you budget target for them for the year? I think it is just a suggestion. Some things cannot take place immediately. It’s not something that can take effect immediately,” in an interview with Punch Newspapers.
“If you stop customs from collecting taxes, customs may deliberately sabotage imports and exports, all the other agencies may deliberately sabotage the system if you take away their ability to collect revenue,” Mr Gabriel Idahosa, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr Niyi Yusuf, was more positive and agreed with the idea.
“Multiple MDAs collecting revenue is one of the reasons for an undue multiplicity of taxes, and it also distracts the agencies from their core economic development responsibilities and, at times, it creates a conflict of interests.
“Revenue collection can be made to be a specialised service by one agency and so should be easier to track performance, transparency, and accountability for results.”
Economy
46 Stocks Gain Weight, 53 Equities Lose on NGX in One Week
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was bullish last week despite investors’ mood swing, triggered by happenings in the country and across the globe, especially the Middle East crisis.
The All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation appreciated week-on-week by 3.94 per cent to 225,722.49 points and N145.335 trillion, respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the growth and commodity indices, which depreciated by 0.02 per cent and 0.41 per cent, respectively, while the sovereign bond index closed flat.
A look at the price changes of shares in the five-day trading week showed that
46 stocks gained weight versus 61 stocks of the previous week, 53 equities shed weight compared with 36 equities a week earlier, and 47 shares closed flat, in contrast to 49 shares of the preceding week.
UAC Nigeria led the gainers’ chart after it chalked up 42.00 per cent to trade at N142.00, Union Dicon appreciated by 32.73 per cent to N21.90, NASCON expanded by 32.63 per cent to N206.90, Trans-Nationwide Express rose by 30.58 per cent to N7.90, and Zichis improved by 25.71 per cent to N15.60.
On the flip side, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank led the losers’ group after it gave up 50.79 per cent to close at N9.35, Abbey Mortgage Bank declined by 33.33 per cent to N5.40, Guinea Insurance slipped by 15.20 per cent to N1.06, Stanbic IBTC lost 13.82 per cent to settle at N162.50, and Living Trust Mortgage Bank slumped by 10.98 per cent to N3.65.
As for the activity log, Customs Street recorded a turnover of 3.805 billion shares worth N213.955 billion in 297,202 deals in the week compared with 3.588 billion shares valued at N195.313 billion transacted in 254,553 deals in the previous week.
Financial stocks led the activity chart with 2.739 billion units sold for N106.269 billion in 135,101 deals, contributing 71.99 per cent and 49.67 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services equities traded 212.324 million units worth N4.024 billion in 17,042 deals, and consumer goods shares exchanged 180.076 million units valued at N13.269 billion in 32,457 deals.
Access Holdings, UBA, and First Holdco were the busiest with 814.060 million units traded for N39.032 billion in 37,195 deals, contributing 21.40 per cent and 18.24 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
Economy
NGX Group’s 65th Annual General Meeting Holds April 29
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 65th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc has been fixed for Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 11:00 am at its corporate head office on 2–4 Customs Street, Lagos.
Business Post gathered that the meeting would be streamed live on the company’s website and social media platforms to enable broader participation by shareholders and stakeholders unable to attend physically.
As part of a special business, shareholders will consider a proposed bonus issue of one new ordinary share for every three existing shares held as at the close of business on April 10, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The proposal also includes an increase in the organisation’s share capital from N1,102,309,954 to N1,469,746,605, to accommodate the bonus shares and amendments to the Memorandum of Association to reflect the new capital structure.
Also at the gathering, shareholders will consider and, if deemed fit, approve the company’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, alongside the reports of the directors, auditors, board evaluation consultants, and audit committee.
The meeting will also deliberate on the declaration of a final dividend and the re-election of three non-executive directors retiring by rotation, who are Mr Umaru Kwairanga, Mrs Ojinika Olaghere, and Dr Okechukwu Itanyi.
Other ordinary business items on the agenda include authorising the board to fix the remuneration of the external auditors, determining the remuneration of managers, and electing members of the statutory audit committee.
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