An organization saddled with the responsibility of monitoring movement of goods by roads and waterways across the country, National Freight Haulers Association of Nigeria, NFHA has decried the rising cost of farm produce in Nigeria, blaming it on multiple taxation.
According to the association, illegal revenue collectors who mount the highways extorting money from transporters of agric produce have forced undue hardship on final consumers who bear the brunt of price adjustment effected by the middleman on the account of several levies paid to convey these items.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday shortly after the meeting of stakeholders and state chairmen of NFHA, Vice President Operations of the association, Mr. Ebere Nwokocha expressed dissatisfaction that at a moment when the federal government has made frantic efforts to allow its policy actions on agriculture to trickle down to the masses, multiple taxation going to unauthorized revenue collectors has negated that effort.
He said this gave rise to a partnership between the NFHA and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON which seeks to compress the multiple taxation on agricultural produce into one by introduction of National Anti Multiple Taxation, NAMTAX.
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“The federal government looked at ways to curtail the skyrocketing prices of farm produce so that the financial burden families bear in purchasing food items will be reduced.
“They came up with a strategy to reduce the cost of transportation of these food items from the producer to the end user. And one of such is by elimination of multiple taxes transporters pay on the road to some individuals masquerading as local government revenue collectors and security agencies.
“So we secured the authorization of ALGON to roll out an emblem that covers transporters from multiple taxation on the road. So the moment you have that emblem, you are covered” he said.
An NFHA stakeholder, Rev. Chidi Jacob said the introduction of National Transit Insurance Scheme, NTIS and National Anti Multiple Taxation, NAMTAX by ALGON which has presence in all the 774 local governments in the country is a giant step towards reduction of cost of food items in the market.
He noted that multiplicity of taxation has been reduced into one by the authorisation and certification of ALGON emblem which the NFHA has secured and issued to state chapters.
Rev. Jacob said the elimination of unauthorized revenue collectors on the road by the introduction of NAMTAX will aid in curbing revenue leakage as well as checking the prices of farm produce.
The Vice President South West NFHA, Otunba Kunle Olaleye noted that with a reinvigorated synergy between the association and ALGON, apart from the number of new jobs it will create, it will also be a value addition to the government’s efforts to boost IGR.
According to Olaleye, era of harassment of NFHA members and enforcement team by security agencies is over, saying a renewed partnership with the security forces has made it a thing of the past.
One of the states chairmen at the meeting, Otunba Adebanjo said the affiliation NFHA enjoys with ALGON has repositioned the association for optimum performance. He noted that the proper identification of revenue collectors now has phased ghost collectors out of business, saying it is a good omen for local governments.
He therefore called for independence of local government as grassroot government to bring more development to the people.
Head of Accident Control Unit of the association, Mr. Moses said the unit has helped in reducing road crashes across the country and ensured that accident victims get timely and adequate medical treatment. .
The Treasurer Caretaker Committee of NFHA, Mohammed Nnaba while commending the efforts NFHA has made in boosting the IGR said a little misunderstanding which broke out between the immediate past administration of the association and Caretaker Committee made it difficult to meet its revenue target this year.
He however expressed optimism that with the resolution of the issues, the 2022 fiscal year will be a better one for all.
