Stakeholders in the telecommunication industry are calling on the Federal Government to give an executive order that will stop state and local governments from imposing multiple and punitive levies on infrastructure. They said the issue of multiple taxes had defied all level of engagements held with the state governments, lingered for too long and limiting the ubiquitous deployment of broadband infrastructure across the country.
They spoke at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Telecom Leadership Summit 2019 hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission on Thursday. A former Minister of Communications and Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson, in her keynote address, noted that engagement with state governments on multiple taxation had lasted for too long. According to her, the best way to address the perennial challenge is to advocate for an executive order from the Federal Government. “I am so disappointed that I left the government in 2015 and in May 2019, we are still talking about multiple taxes, it doesn’t make any sense. Before I came into government, we talked about multiple taxes. To me, it shows that we haven’t understood the importance of getting these taxes out of the way. An executive order will do this thing. Just tell the state governors they can’t charge the infrastructure,” Johnson said. “I think what the NCC needs to start doing is to really begin to engage and be more forceful and unless we get these issues out of the way, we cannot build infrastructure for a digital economy.”

Source: Investors King

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