Investors Express Concern over Delay in Implementation of LPG VAT Exemption

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Investors in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector in the country yesterday expressed concern over the delay in the implementation of the recent announcement of exemption of Value Added Tax (VAT) on the commodity.

They urged the Comptroller General of  the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Adewale Adeniyi to explain the rationale for the reluctance in the execution of the presidential directive.

Chairman of the LPG stakeholders freight, Kabir Babawale, who spoke with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara state, said that the LPG storage tanks of many of his members under the code of 73111.00.00.00  were lying at the ports with increasing demurrage on daily basis.

 “Will the customs pay for the demurrage now that it has refused to obey the directive of the presidency? We are anxiously awaiting the implementation of this directive,” he said.

Babawale, while thanking President Bola Tinubu for what he described as his proactive decision on the exemption order, said he believed that the development would boost the has penetration policy of the government and ease the high cost of domestic cooking gas in the country.

He added: “As investors, we are ready to commit more into the business, but before then, we are anxiously awaiting the implementation of this directive. Or Can we begin to insinuate that there is a parallel body to the federal government?”

In a move aimed at making cooking gas more affordable for Nigerians, the federal government had some days ago announced the exemption of the LPG imports from VAT and customs duty.

The decision, communicated through a letter from the ministry of finance, is expected to significantly reduce the cost of cooking gas for households and businesses across the country.

 The federal government had decided to waive customs duty and VAT on import of the commodity and its accessories to crash the price of the LPG nationwide.

The report said the ministry of finance conveyed the decision in a letter dated November 28, 2023, and addressed to several officials, including the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the Comptroller General of Customs, and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Other items exempted from VAT and duty payment were LPG cylinders, cascades, gas leak detectors, steel pipes, valves and fittings, dispensers, gas generators as well as trucks.