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Tinubu Launches expatriate Employment Levy

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has launched the Expatriate Employment Levy to bolster home-grown skill retention and technology domestication and to balance employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates.

Tinubu said at the launch of the Expatriate Employment Levy handbook at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

The president also warned that the scheme should not be used as an impediment nor as a stick wielded to deter foreign investors.

“I declare my support for the Expatriate Employment Levy scheme, and I will continue to encourage the operators, practitioners of immigration matters and expatriate quotas, but I emphasise: do not use it as a bottleneck; do not use it as an obstacle to frustrate potential investors,” Tinubu said.

He also said the EEL will close wage gaps between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force while increasing employment opportunities for qualified Nigerians in foreign companies operating in the country.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this in a statement he signed Tuesday titled, ‘President Tinubu advocates greater home-grown skill retention and domestication of technologies as pursuit of foreign direct investment intensifies.’

The President said he launched the levy to improve revenue generation, naturalisation and indigenisation.

He also expects the employment of more qualified Nigerians by foreign companies operating in the country.

“We seek a greater balancing of employment opportunities between Nigerians and expatriates and the closure of the wage gap between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force by making it more attractive to hire Nigerians.

“There will be clear lines of implementation and effective acceleration of aims and objectives of this programme. officials in charge of immigration matters, expatriate quotas, and relevant stakeholders have to be effectively guided to make Nigeria the focus of the objective of this EEL.

“Therefore, it is my honour to launch the handbook of the Expatriate Employment Levy,” President Tinubu said.

The President also assured Nigerians that there is imminent light at the end of the tunnel as the country gradually turns the corner, adding, “We might be going through a difficult period now, but when you look at the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Federal Ministries of Finance; Budget and National Planning, and the people manning the ship of this country, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, they have collaborated, and in the spirit of development and progress, we are glad that good effort is being made to re-engineer the finances of the country and make growth our hallmark.”

Explaining the details of the EEL, the Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, explained that the project would be operated on a public-private partnership model between the federal government of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, which is the implementing agency, and a technical partner, EEL Projects Limited.

Tunji-Ojo said, “It is worthy to mention that the project is aligned with the eight-point agenda of Mr. President, especially on the issue of job security and economic growth. This project will, among other things, lead to technology domestication.

“The essence of this is to be sure that if you are bringing an expatriate to work in Nigeria, it should be a job that no Nigerian has the skill to do. That is the major objective of this particular initiative,” the Minister added.

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NiMet Predicts Three-day Rain, Thunderstorms From Monday

Published

14 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

News

JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan

Published

19 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Sunday, paid a visit to the Olubadan designate, Rashidi Ladoja, at his Bodija private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The PUNCH reports that Oba Ladoja will be installed as the 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, following the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 90 years.

The two paramount rulers are currently exchanging pleasantries.

Details later…

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JUST IN: FG Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licenses Over Unpaid Fees

Published

20 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has announced a fresh revocation of not less than 1,263 mineral licenses.

These licenses, which will now be deleted from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.

The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the revocation announcement in a statement issued by his special assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday in Abuja.

The minister explained that the directive was issued due to the companies’ failure to comply with the requirement of paying their annual service fees.

The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including,619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.

By opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.

The statement read, “Not less than 1,263 mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, following their revocation by the Federal Government.

“These include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.”

Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.

“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over.

“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” the minister said.

He warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.

“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities.”

In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.

He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.

He observed that the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.

Earlier this month, the DG MCO had hinted that more mining licences would be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.

According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.

This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitising the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration, and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.