The Nigerian Federal Government wants to mandate all fees collected at its ports of entry to be in Naira instead of dollars or other foreign currency.
The proposal is part of the Economic Stabilisation Bills (ESBs) seeking to amend local taxation laws which were approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and are to be presented by President Bola Tinubu to the national assembly.
According to Tinubu’s special adviser, Bayo Onanuga, the plan is part of an effort from the federal government to prioritise the use of Naira and reduce pressure on the foreign exchange (FX) market.
“The second one has to do with the operating laws guiding Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). The amendment under that in the economic stabilisation bills is that all their fees, charges, levies, fines and other monies accruing to them and payable to those agencies will now be paid in Naira at the applicable exchange rate,” Onanuga said.
“Hitherto, those agencies were charging in dollars but now collect it in Naira. This government wants to put a lot of emphasis on our national currency instead of everything being dollarised in our economy.”
The Naira has significantly lost value against the U.S. dollar despite the unification of exchange rates on June 14 2024. Since then, the local currency has depreciated from N471.67 per dollar to N1667.42/$ in the official market as of this writing.
Nigeria🇳🇬Formally Unifies Foreign Exchange Trading Rates as Naira Devalues by 36%
This marks the first time, since 2016, that the Naira has recorded a big fall on the official market before the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced a managed exchange rate in 2017.… pic.twitter.com/u8UWAbwaFb
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 15, 2023
The federal government also announced that starting October 1 2024, it will begin selling crude oil in Naira to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries in an effort to reduce the demand for dollars.
🇳🇬INFLATION | The Nigeria Government’s ‘Naira for Crude’ Initiative Expected to Reduce U.S. Dollar Reliance by 40%
By lessening the reliance on U.S. dollars, the initiative aims to stabilize the Naira, which has experienced significant depreciation in recent years.
This… pic.twitter.com/nfrjnikO9S
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) September 4, 2024
Special advisor, Onanuga, added that when the ESBs are passed into law, all foreigners in Nigeria will be mandated to register for the national identification number (NIN).
“The bill also provides that all, everybody living in Nigeria, foreigners, all of them will now be registered and be given NIN,” he said.
“Once you are doing some work here and you are earning income, you will be registered and be given names so that you can be taxed.
Your NIN will give you a kind of tax identity and you can also be taxed. You come under our tax structure. That’s one of the bills to amend the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).”
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