By Ike Wigodo
A Federal High Court in Lagos,
presided by Justice Mc Idris has affirmed that the Environmental Rights
Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has the right to demand and get
a response from the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on its request for
information on tax benefits granted to tobacco companies under the Export
Expansion Grant (EEG) scheme.
The group had, on 28 November 2016,
through its counsel-Yinka Kotoye made the request in line with the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Act, with the letter addressed to the Comptroller-General of
NCS and the other respondent being the Minister of Finance, Dr Kemi Adeosun.
The Attorney-General of the federation was copied.
ERA/FoEN is asking among other things
that the NCS make public the volume and brand names of cigarettes
exported from Nigeria from 2002 till date, those imported within that period,
by which company and to which country, how much British American Tobacco
Company Nigeria (BATN) benefited from the EEG from 2004 to 2014 and the waivers
or tax exemptions the company got from 2004 till date.
The group also is to know how much tax
waiver, or grants benefited by any other tobacco company operating in Nigeria
from 2004 till date, volume of raw tobacco leaf imported into Nigeria by BATN
and from which country and volume of shredded tobacco imported into Nigeria by
the company and from which country as well, volume of raw tobacco leaf imported
into Nigeria by any other tobacco company, into Nigeria and from which country,
volume of shredded tobacco by any other tobacco company, into Nigeria and from
which country, location of cigarette factories in Nigeria, and volume and
brands produced from each factory.
The motion exparte by the ERA/FoEN also
demanded among others that the, Attorney General and the Minister of Justice
and the Finance minister should mandate the NCS to comply with the mandatory
provisions of the FOIA to make the document available to it.
Reacting to the court ruling, ERA/FoEN
Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said “This is a good development
as we have reiterated that our demand aligns with the Federal Government
attempts to track and trace every revenue that was illegally diverted into
private hands or undue grants that was used to bleed our economy. We are
very much interested in the economics of tobacco business in Nigeria”.
It would be recalled that ERA/FoEN went
to court after the mandatory seven day period of response from the NCS under
Section 5 of the FOI Act to respond elapsed with no response from the
agency. The case was adjourned to 24 February 2017.
* Source: Media Rights Agenda
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