Tax evasion: House C’ttee indicts 30 oil coys, FIRS chair

The report of the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating the Structure and Accountability of Joint Venture (JV) Business and Production Sharing Contract (PSC) of NNPC has indicted several oil companies for alleged tax evasion.

The report also said the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Mamman Nami, should be arrested and prosecuted for aiding tax evasion by oil companies.

In the report obtained by NAN, investigation by the house of representatives committee began from 1991 till date with tax evasion running into trillions of naira.

The report is expected to be laid before the lawmakers this week.

The ad hoc committee investigation, chaired by Rep. Abubakar Fulata revealed that the JVs and PSCs of NNPC sold Nigerian oil at lowest cost to their own subsidiaries in a “tax haven”.

The committee alleged that the company subsequently sold the same oil to other buyers at full price, while inflating the cost of their Nigerian production operations and under reported the volume of oil they produced.

This, apart from outright circumvention of the Nigerian tax laws, the committee said is abusive and contrived tax avoidance scheme to minimise their tax liability.

The ad hoc committee is praying the house to adopt the recommendations with a view to bringing sanity in the oil and gas operation in Nigeria.

This, according to the report of the committee, would be a greater benefits to the citizens.

The committee report also showed that all international and national oil companies who enjoyed capital allowance in Nigeria had no Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Asset (CAFA) as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act.

The report however said that all oil companies that benefited from capital allowance without obtaining CAFA as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act be made to refund all the monies to the government treasury.

On November 1, 2022 the house ad hoc committee investigating the structure and accountability of the Joint Venture (JV) Businesses and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCS) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited began probing oil companies accused of tax evasion.

The probe was at the backdrop of alleged tax evasion by some oil companies operating in Nigeria, which led to the constitution of the committee by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.

The Star