Economy
Soft Drinks Makers in Nigeria May Begin to Pay Excise Duty
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Makers of carbonated (soft) drinks in Nigeria may begin to pay excise duty to the federal government just like their counterpart in the alcohol business.
The Nigerian government said it was irrational for those in the beer, spirit and tobacco industry to pay tax, while those in the soft drink business do not.
In the past, makers of carbonated drinks paid excise duty to the government until the interim national government (ING) of Mr Ernest Shonekan abolished it in 1993.
But the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Hameed Ali, wants this policy reversed, stating that the reason for exempting soft drinks makers was no longer valid.
According to the retired military officer, producers of tobacco and alcoholic beverages were not exempted from excise duty payment in Nigeria because their products were believed to be dangerous to the health of consumers.
Mr Ali, while appearing before a joint committee of the Senate on Finance and National Planning on Thursday in Abuja, argued that the consumption of soft drinks has also been proven to be dangerous to health, especially because of its sugar content.
He, therefore, called on the government to start subjecting manufacturers of carbonated drinks in the country to the payment of excise duty.
He warned that if this issue is not looked into, Nigeria may suffer a huge decline in revenue because a number of agreements signed by Nigeria, especially the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), are likely to reduce revenue from import.
“We have asked for the expansion of our own excise collection.
“During the [Ernest] Shonekan regime [in 1993], the excise was stopped for carbonated drinks manufacturers, like Coca-Cola.
“We are only allowed to collect excise duty [on] tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
“The understanding then was that tobacco and alcoholic beverages affect the health of citizens and should be taxed.
“But we know that carbonated drinks are also injurious to the health of the people due to the high sugar content.
“Therefore, if tobacco and alcoholic beverages companies are paying tax, the carbonated drink manufacturers should also pay,” the customs boss said.
Business Post reports that since the federal government increased the excise duty on tobacco and alcoholic beverages, manufacturers have struggled to make profit from the business.
Also, the declining purchasing power of consumers in the country has made it very difficult for beer makers to increase the prices of their products.
Soft drinks are consumed by a large number of people in the country, especially among Christians and Muslims, whose faiths kick against the consumption of alcohol.
This is not the first time the federal government is considering collecting more taxes from soft drink makers in the country.
In 2019, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the government was looking at charging producers of carbonated drinks for sugar tax so as to increase the nation’s revenue streams.
“We have proposed the increase of VAT but there are also other revenue streams that we are looking at and some of them include the introduction of excise duties on carbonated drinks but there is a process to doing these things,” Mrs Ahmed had said last year on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the United States.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria has been projected to record an economic growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2026 by the World Bank Group, higher than the 3.7 per cent earlier predicted in June 2025.
In its 2026 Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender also said the growth for next year for Nigeria is 4.4 per cent rather than the 3.8 per cent earlier projected.
As for the sub-Saharan African region, the economy is forecast to move up to 4.3 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent next year.
It stressed that growth in developing economies should slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before rising to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve, and investment flows strengthen.
In the report, it also noted that growth is expected to jump in low-income countries by 5.6 per cent due to stronger domestic demand, recovering exports, and moderating inflation.
As for the world economy, the bank said it is now 2.6 per cent and not 2.4 per cent due to growing resilience despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty.
“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” a part of the report stated.
“But economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without fracturing public finance and credit markets,” it noted.
World Bank also said, “Over the coming years, the world economy is set to grow slower than it did in the troubled 1990s — while carrying record levels of public and private debt.
“To avert stagnation and joblessness, governments in emerging and advanced economies must aggressively liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and invest in new technologies and education.”
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