The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has accused the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of withholding N8.480trillion.

The commission said the NNPCL withheld the sum meant for the Federation Account, as petrol subsidy, from January 2022 till date.

A statement on Thursday by RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu suggested that the subsidy regime was shrouded in secrecy.

Shehu said the scrapping of oil subsidies by President Bola Tinubu, a decision he announced during his inauguration on May 29, was a good move.

“Since January 1, 2022, to date, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has not been contributing to the Federation Account due to the claimed subsidy payments.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Earned N109.6trn Non-oil Tax In 12 Years – NBS

“The total amount withheld by the NNPCL as claimed subsidies for this period amounted to N8,480,204,553,608,” the statement reads.

The figure reported by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) “is yet to be reconciled by the RMAFC, OAGF, and NNPCL”, Shehu noted.

The RMAFC chief said in a situation where subsidy transactions are not transparent, “it would be unwise to sustain the phantom payments of subsidy.”

He expressed optimism that the subsidy removal would eliminate uncertainty surrounding the subsidy regime and avail funds for the execution of critical national projects.

Shehu further charged the President to go after economic saboteurs “who have contributed to the nation’s economic woes.”

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed Nigeria earned N109.6 trillion from non-oil taxes in 12 years.

The federal agency gave the breakdown in its latest report titled “Tax-To-GDP Ratio.”

The document noted that between 2010 and 2021, Africa’s most populous country earned N25.1 trillion from oil tax.

According to NBS, Nigeria collected N6.8 trillion in 2010, N9.4 trillion in 2011, and N8.4 trillion in 2012 as non-oil taxes.

Non-oil taxes earned the nation N9.2 trillion in 2014, N7.8 trillion in 2015, and N7.1 trillion in 2016.

READ ALSO: PDP G-5 In Closed-door Meeting With Tinubu

Furthermore, Nigeria generated N8.7 trillion in 2017, N10.6 trillion in 2018, and N12.5 trillion in 2019 from non-oil taxes.

However, the country collected N2.4 trillion from oil taxes in 2014, N1.4 trillion in 2015, and N1.2 trillion in 2016.

NBS added that the total tax revenue from non-oil taxes in the period under review was N142.4trillion

Britain’s financial regulator on Thursday tightened rules over the promotion and selling of cryptocurrency as it seeks to protect consumers.

The Financial Conduct Authority unveiled a package of measures for the industry, which has long faced criticism over the lack of oversight — and promises of high returns in a volatile marketplace.

Under the new rules, companies promoting crypto products or services in Britain must from October give a “clear warning” that customers could lose money in “high-risk” investments.

READ ALSO: US Accuses World’s Largest Crypto Platform, Binance Of Illegal Operations

Marketing firms must also introduce a cooling-off period for first-time crypto investors.

FG put MDAs’ payments on hold
And the watchdog will also ban “refer a friend” bonuses that are designed to incentivise crypto investing.

“Our rules give people the time and the right risk warnings to make an informed choice,” said Sheldon Mills, head of consumers and competition at the FCA.

The announcement comes after Britain introduced legislation earlier this year to bring crypto promotions under the scope of the FCA.

READ ALSO: US Accuses World’s Largest Crypto Platform, Binance Of Illegal Operations

UK lawmakers are also demanding that crypto investments in Britain be regulated, in much the same way as the country’s gambling industry.

Reacting to the FCA announcement, the director of operations at industry group CryptoUK, Su Carpenter, said the new rules could prevent fresh entrants.

“There is a risk that this solution will both unfairly concentrate market power for those firms which are already authorised and potentially encourage unauthorised firms to operate from outside of the UK,” Carpenter said.

That could, in turn, create “a competitive disadvantage for UK-based organisations and also potentially undermining consumer safeguards”, she added in a statement.

The FCA clampdown follows moves toward tighter regulation in the United States.

READ ALSO: Bitcoin Slumps Below $23,000 In Crypto Crash

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday sued crypto platform Coinbase, charging that the largest US digital currency trading platform made billions of dollars by “unlawfully facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities”.

The SEC has this week also unveiled charges against Coinbase peer Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao for numerous alleged securities law violations.

The news follows the spectacular failure of crypto exchange giant FTX in November, stoking concern over a market dubbed by some critics as the “Wild West”.

AFP