The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the House Committee on Public Accounts have resolved to activate their regulations on Free Trade Zones and Enterprises within the zones to enforce maximum remittances to the Federation Account.
According to a statement by Martins Odeh, PhD, Head of Corporate Communications, the two bodies reached this decision during the committee’s oversight tour of the Dangote Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE and the Lagos Free Zone in Lagos.
The statement explained that the Managing Director of NEPZA, Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, in his welcome address, affirmed the Authority’s commitment to the transparent application of its regulatory powers.
He stated that most of the functional zones, along with their enterprises, had not performed badly in terms of remittances to the government. However, he emphasised that the regulation must be strictly enforced to ensure prompt compliance by all operators.
“The Authority has once again notified all operators of its readiness to strictly apply the regulation to achieve maximum compliance in this regard. I would like to assure the committee of our resolve to continue upholding the tenets of transparency, accountability, and fiscal probity in the management of the scheme,” he said.
The statement further noted that Dr Ogunyemi expressed satisfaction with the overall activities of both the Lagos Free Zone and the Dangote Refinery. However, he stressed that they, along with all FTZs in Nigeria, must do more to ensure compliance with their agreements with the government.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Committee, Rt Hon Bamidele Salam, expressed satisfaction with the scheme, stating that it had facilitated the seamless attraction of both local and foreign investments.
Salam, however, noted that Free Trade Zones were established to fast-track economic growth and industrialisation.
“We are pleased with what we have seen here so far. We recognise that both the Dangote Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE and the Lagos Free Zone serve as excellent examples of the successes achieved under the scheme by NEPZA. However, NEPZA must work harder to expand the scheme across other parts of the country for the sake of equity and balance in the industrialisation process,” he noted.
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