Press Release
The Environmental RightsAction/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has requested that the NigeriaCustoms Service (NCS) release detailed information on tax waivers, grants andother benefits that British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) and other tobaccocompanies benefited under the now-rested Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Schemeintroduced by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2002.The EEG scheme is an export incentivedesigned to assist indigenous exporters to expand the volume and value of theirexports, diversify export markets and become more competitive in theinternational market.
Exporters get cash grants forexporting semi-manufactured or manufactured products with the incentive elementin the graduation of the grant according to volume of export sales.Under the scheme, which wasadjusted in 2003, the federal government gave up to 40 per cent to any industrythat exported and repatriated money on intermediate and finished products.ERA/FoEN believes that BATN whichhad over the years claimed it was paying billions of naira in taxes did not actuallyqualify to benefit from the scheme and merely hid under the platform ofmanufacturer to leach on Nigeria.In a letter addressed to theComptroller-General of NCS on 28 November 2016 and copied to the Minister ofFinance, titled Request for information under thefreedom of information Act with specific reference to the tax benefit (s) inthe tobacco industry, ERA/FoEN made 11 specific requests.In the letter by ERA/FoENsolicitors – A. M. Kotoye, FCTI – the group is requesting the volume and brandnames of cigarettes exported from Nigeria from 2002 till present, by which companyand to which country, and volume and brand names of cigarettes imported intothe country within the same time frame.ERA/FoEN is demanding the releaseof information on how much BATN benefited from the EEG from 2004 to 2014, taxwaivers or tax exemptions the companybenefitted from the Nigerian government from 2004 till date, and how much taxwaiver, or grants benefited by any other tobacco company operating in Nigeriawithin the same time frame.It is also asking for informationon the volume of raw tobacco leaf BATN imported into Nigeria and from whichcountry, volume of shredded tobacco imported into Nigeria by BATN and fromwhich country as well as volume of raw tobacco leaf imported into Nigeria byany other tobacco Company, into Nigeria and from which country.The group also wants to know thevolume of shredded tobacco by any other tobacco company, into Nigeria and fromwhich country, location of Cigarette factories in Nigeria as well as volume andbrands produced from each factory.The text of the letter alsodetailed that if the NCS believes that another agency, ministry or departmentof the government has greater interest in the information requested for, it isobliged under Section 5 of the FOI Act to transfer the request to that agency,ministry or department within three days but not later than seven days ofreceiving the request.On why the FOIA request, ERA/FoEN Deputy ExecutiveDirector, Akinbode Oluwafemi said “ We as an organization decided to align withthe Federal Government in tracking and tracing every revenue that was illegallydiverted into private hands or undue grants that were used to bleed our economy.It is also to lay bare how much the tobacco companies have deceived theNigerian government and the Nigerian people about the economics of tobaccobusiness in Nigeria.”He added that if the agency failto respond to the request at the stipulated time the organization will nothesitate to file appropriate legal action in the court as provided for by the law.