Politics

Nigeria’s economic reforms: Governor insists President Tinubu is taking the right steps

August 13, 2025

Home Category Business News Politics

Politics

General news on the economy and politics.

MPR, CBN, GTBank, CBN disagrees with IMF, says land border closure boosting local production, Border closure: Emefiele says Benin, others must engage Nigeria before borders are reopened , bvn 2.0, CBN reveals banks’ foreign assets rise to N14.19 trillion in 2019

Politics

Diary Production: Herdsmen to leverage on CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme

by Damilare Famuyiwa

Livestock production in the country is expected to gain growth as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has disclosed plans...

EFCC arraigns ex-petroleum director involved in P&ID’s court case

by Damilare Famuyiwa

The EFCC has arraigned former Director, Legal Services of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Grace Taiga for allegedly being involved...

Banks' stakeholders express 4 main concerns bothering the sector right now, CBN, MARKET UPDATE: CBN’s historic agriculture lending; Is it yielding the desired results?

Why lawmakers moved against CBN’s newly introduced charges on deposits

by Damilare Famuyiwa

The House of Representatives has directed the CBN to suspend its policy which allows bank customers to charge for cash...

CBN, Key lending rate, CBN to boost creative industry with N22 billion , CBN increases LDR to 65%, sets December deadline, External reserves drop by $3.2 billion in Q3’19 , Banks' loans to Oil and Gas, Power, other sectors drop by N411.8 billion

New CBN circular targets Payment channels, FinTechs.

by Chike Olisah

The new circular is basically a tax on the volume of transactions and could rake in billions in stamp duty...

FG foreign reserves Nigeria Yemi-Osinbajo, FG negotiates with Governors on bail-out fund, as NEC approves 100 billion for NLTP, bail-out fund States Governors, FG earns N28.6 trillion from VAT, others , Ease of doing Business: States must partner with Federal Government – Osinbajo , AfCFTA: Nigeria’s financial footprints to be extended across Africa – Osinbajo , FG seeks partnership with National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, here’s why , Osinbajo says FG’s investment to take advantage of Africa’s $200bn tourism potential is massive, Pres. Buhari’s plan to tax US tech companies might provoke US trade war https://www.yemiosinbajo.ng/vps-lecture-at-the-national-defence-college-course-28-lecture-event/ https://punchng.com/digital-firms-to-pay-tax-under-new-finance-act-osinbajo-2/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/business/economy/digital-tax-oecd.html Nigeria at risk of trade war with United States as the Nigerian Government says it will impose taxes on technology companies like Facebook, Google, and other digital companies that have been escaping tax payment in Nigeria due to their lack of presence within the country. The US has threatened tariffs on imports from countries that impose such digital taxes. The tech companies with heavy revenue footprint in Nigeria now have their backs against the wall because President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration want to tax them to grow Nigeria’s revenue; which has led to the development of the Finance Act. The Finance Act is the solution of President Buhari to the revenue problem which the Finance Minister, Ahmad Zainab, said Nigeria has. The Nigerian government is looking to grow its revenue through taxes, and one of such is the digital tax which Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said will commence despite the threat of the US which is aimed at protecting the silicon companies. No more back door operation: Facebook, Google, Amazon, YouTube and many more digital businesses have a sizeable market in Nigeria, but don’t have a physical structure for their operations; this has cost Nigeria tax revenue. These companies are known to prefer situating their companies in tax havens where taxes are low compared to other African and European countries. Ireland and Bermuda are some of the tax havens for these multinational companies. But according to Osinbajo, the period of making gains from their operation in Nigeria without paying tax is over. Osinbajo, while speaking at The National Defence College, Course 28 Lecture Event, said that, “Let me also briefly mention the new provisions on Taxation of Digital Economy and Non-Resident Companies. This is a very important aspect of our taxation policy. Before the Finance Act, only companies that had a physical presence or a fixed base in Nigeria could be taxed. “So, most digital companies, I mean any of the big technology companies, or multi-national digital companies, that did not have physical offices in Nigeria, made significant income from Nigeria from online activities, such as advertising, movie streaming, online gaming and e-commerce from subscribers in Nigeria, but paid no taxes whatsoever because they did not have a physical base in Nigeria. So now we are no longer relying on the fixed base or physical address criterion.” He added that, “Under the Finance Act, once you have a Significant Economic Presence (SEP) in Nigeria, you are liable to tax. Whether you are a resident here or you are not resident as a company, as long as your economic presence is significant, you are liable to tax. If you are streaming online, advertising using Google adverts, whether you are resident here or not, you are now subject to tax. “So, non-residents who previously had no fixed base and no Nigerian tax liability will now be liable to tax based on the SEP criterion. The Minister of Finance is empowered to issue a regulation defining what Significant Economic Presence means. So, she just defines the scope of what we will be looking out for in terms of Significant Economic Presence.” Osinbajo explained. Nigeria is not alone in this crusade: Nigeria is not the only country trying to tax these technology companies. The European Union have also been coming after them for taxes. The EU is also stating that if the technology companies are making economic gains through their operation despite the lack of physical presence in several European countries, then the tech conglomerates should be taxed. This has led to review of tax laws by the EU. According to a report by New York Times, new rules to tax these multinational companies are being discussed by about 130 countries through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The review has become necessary as digital economy begins to open new revenue sources. Should Nigeria tread carefully? The United States has threated to hit any country imposing taxes on the technology companies - which are mostly American – with tariffs on import. This put Nigeria at a rather impossible position, as the country is not economically strong enough to enter a trade war or go on a tit for tat battle with the US. According to Q3 report, the US is the fifth biggest export destination for Nigeria, having imported N322.2 billion (6.28%) goods from Nigeria, with crude oil constituting N329.8 billion. Although, the US is behind Ghana, India, Netherlands and Spain, it doesn’t change the significance of the US market to the Nigerian economy. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s top import sources include the U.S, accounting for N747 billion in H1 2019. Franch had moved to tax the online businesses but have now delayed the plan this year after a meeting with the US; the US has also paused its tariff threat against France. Britain is also one of the digital tax drivers. With such threat hanging over the digital tax, it’s unlikely Nigeria will go ahead taxing these technology companies, as US feels such tax is discriminatory against US firms, and have suggested these companies be allowed to decide if they want to operate with the new tax standards., FG will provide succor for daily wage earners as lockdown continues – Osinbajo

Bail-out Fund: FG negotiates with States Governors as NEC approves 100 billion for NLTP

by Bamidele Samuel Adesoji

The Federal Government has negotiated with States Governors on the initially planned bulk deductions of bail-out funds.

Dangote lauds Buhari over Economic Advisory Council

by Chidinma Nwagbara

Alhaji Aliko Dangote has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari over the formation of the Economic Advisory Council

$9 billion UK judgement: Malami, Sylvia to face 17-man panel

by Joseph Olaoluwa

Abubakar Malami and Timipre Sylvia will face a 17-man Adhoc panel to answer questions concerning the P&ID contract.

External reserves, CBN to hold MPC meeting next week, Demand for credit by household increases in Q2 2020 - CBN, CBN grants licenses to 3 Payment Service Banks, Mobile money loan CBN Governor, CBN, Three PSBs get Apex Bank’s provisional to commence operations, Milk Import: Experts advise CBN on FX restriction , CBN automates trading system, introduces electronic form to facilitate exports , CBN campaigns for Made-in-Nigeria products , CBN recent macroeconomic policies, others lead to a higher Fitch rating; from negative IDR to a stable ‘B’ rating, AGSMEIS: CBN expand beneficiaries to 14,638.

Three PSBs get Apex Bank’s provisional approval to commence operations

by Joseph Olaoluwa

Three Payment Service Banks (PSBs) have got the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) of Central Bank to commence banking operations in Nigeria

Outrage as Nigerians react to new CBN deposit and withdrawal charges

by Emmanuel Abara Benson

More reactions have continued to trail the Central Bank of Nigeria’s partial implementation of deposit and withdrawal charges for individuals...

$9bn, P&ID, $9.6 billion award: UK Court grants Nigeria stay of execution, requests $200 million payment, Buhari secures fresh $308 million Abacha loot from US

UPDATED: P&ID representatives plead guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges

by Chidinma Nwagbara