According to a directive from FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, all publicly and privately owned businesses in Abuja must now require tax certificate clearance (TCC) from all Abuja residents before offering their services, implying that those without the document should not be qualified for any type of service.
“Any corporate body, statutory authority, or person so empowered by this Act or any other law shall require a tax clearance certificate for the three (3) years immediately preceding the current year of assessment as a condition of transacting any business, including but not limited to”
In a memo addressed on October 4 to commercial banks, ministries, departments, and organizations, Mr. Wike referenced Section 31(5) of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Act 2015.
Services like automobile registration, trade license applications, contractor registration, land allocation applications, business name applications to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), applications for building plans, etc. are among those that are impacted.
Before using such services, entities that want to apply for government contracts, gaming licenses, or any other type of government license or permit must produce their tax clearance certificates.
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Officials from these agencies who violate the directive risk receiving a N5 million fine and a three-year prison sentence.
“Any official of MDAS, SDAs, officials of the FCTA, Area Council offices, any corporate body, statutory authority, or commercial banks who violate and fail to comply with the provision, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of M5,000,000.00 to three years in prison or both fine and imprisonment as provided for by section 85 (9) of PITA, 2011 (as amended),” he said.
It is unclear whether Mr. Wike, whose FCT ministerial appointment has barely clocked three months, was merely blustering with the tax clearance being a mandatory requirement for all Abuja residents to access any service, similar to a similar unenforced order prohibiting cattle grazing in the nation’s capital.
Despite the minister’s directive prohibiting cattle grazing in the center of the capital city, herders and hundreds of cows have been spotted ambling down busy city streets including the Goodluck Jonathan Expressway and Bannex, close to the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a short distance from Aso Villa.
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