On Sunday, August 2, 2020, Chairperson of NIPOST, Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, accused FIRS of stealing the mandate of the agency she heads; and maintained that NIPOST is the authorized agency tasked with collecting stamp duties. 

The FIRS is led by Muhammad Nami.

“I am worried for NIPOST, having sleepless nights because of NIPOST, we need the general public to come to our aid, FIRS stole our mandate,” Abubakar shared on Twitter. 

She also said FIRS is doing all it can to kill NIPOST. “FIRS are now selling stamps instead of buying from us #justicefornipost. What is happening? Are we expected to keep quiet and let FIRS kill and bury NIPOST? We need to get our mandate back #justicefornipost.”

Well, FIRS took to the same Twitter to respond and it doesn’t sound pretty. 

FIRS has called Abubakar ‘unfortunate’, ‘indecorous’ and ‘a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed into high office’, among other invective, in a bile-laden press statement signed by its Director of Communication and Liaison, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad. 

“We appreciate the general public for demonstrating deep knowledge of the difference between Stamp Duty and Postage Stamp. It is unfortunate that Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the NIPOST Board is yet to understand this.

“Our attention was drawn to the tweet by Mrs. Abubakar. Her indecorous tweet would not have deserved any response but for the sensitive nature of the issue at stake, which if not sensibly treated and promptly corrected would likely mislead the public.

“To be sure, NIPOST is a government parastatal established by Decree 41 of 1992 with the function to *develop, promote, and provide adequate and efficiently coordinated postal services at reasonable rates.*

“This function is clearly contrary to the claim by NIPOST over the administration of stamp duties in Nigeria. On the other hand, the FIRS is the sole agency of govt charged with the responsibility of *assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties.*

“It is therefore shocking to us that such a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office would throw all caution to the air to cast aspersions on reputable public institutions like the National Assembly and FIRS, which she accused of stealing NIPOST ideas,” FIRS said.

Abubakar had also added that NIPOST has generated over N60 billion in stamp duty levy for the federal government in recent times. 

FIRS has warned Abubakar and NIPOST that all monies collected as stamp duty has got to be accounted for or they will face the full wrath of the law.

“This, to say the least, is a preposterous claim and great disservice to the government and people of Nigeria,” the statement from FIRS continues. “We wish to state categorically that, as an agency which operates within the ambit of the law, the FIRS is determined to not only ensure that all monies collected by NIPOST into its illegally operated Stamp Duties Account are fully remitted into the Federation Account;

“But also make sure that any kobo not accounted for in that account is legally recovered in line with the charge of President Muhammadu Buhari to the recently inaugurated Inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of stamp duties from 2016 till date.

“In addition, anyone found culpable of misappropriating the funds in the said illegal NIPOST Stamp Duties Account would be made to face the law as provisioned by the country's statute books.

“We therefore call on right-thinking Nigerians to disregard that ill-advised tweet by Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar and allied misinformation being disseminated by NIPOST in relation to Stamp Duties collection, which by law is the responsibility of the FIRS.”

Inter-agency rivalry has become a recurring theme with the Buhari administration.

There have been public squabbles between the DSS (Department of State Security) and EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), NiDCOM (Nigerians in Diaspora Commission) and the ministry of communications, the ministry of power and NBET (Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company), the ministry of power and TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria); and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Niger Delta ministry.

Stamp duty has become the new cash cow for a cash-strapped federal government; as the nation’s economy asphyxiates under the weight of a slump in the price of crude oil in the global market, foreign exchange shortage and a devalued currency. 

The FIRS recently boasted that it collected a total of N20 billion in stamp duty from Money Deposit Banks (MDBs) between January and June of 2020.

Nigerians have been asked to pay more in Value Added Tax (VAT), online transactions (including deposits and withdrawals) and a percentage on house rent just so the federal government can fund the over N10 trillion 2020 budget.