By Favour Goodness
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Wednesday, denounced the suit instituted by the state governors over failure to remit funds generated from stamp duties.
Loading ...This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen through the media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu.
The statement came barely one week after the 36 state governments dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over the stamp duty controversy.
According to Malami, nothing was generated by the Federal Government, stating that it had earlier set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of back years Stamp Duties from January 15, 2016, to June 30, 2020.
“At this stage, liabilities are being established, and no actual recovery has been made”, Malami said, adding that the Committee was yet to make any recovery.
I a letter addressed to the Governors of the 36 states of the Federation, Malami stated:
“Pursuant to Mr. President’s approval and directives, I also wish to request Your Excellency to direct the State Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Regulatory Institutions of Financial Sector to engage and grant access to the appointed Recovery Agents for the purpose of the Audit and Recovery of Stamp Duty to ensure that all established liabilities are remitted as appropriate.”
He said the recoveries were being conducted for Federal Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Financial Institutions, adding that Section 111 of the Stamp Duty Act, granted the AGF an exclusive power to recover any outstanding payment or remittances related to stamp duty.
