NIPOST, FIRS take turf war to Twitter; Nigerians react

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) are presently locked in a no-holds-barred war on Twitter that has Nigerians gripped.

The trouble began after the chairman of NIPOST, Maimuna Abubakar, in a series of tweets weekend, accused the FIRS of stealing the mandate of NIPOST and threatening to run it down.

She said the FIRS, responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax accruing to the Federal Government, had begun printing stamps, thereby encroaching on its core mandate.

Apparently unable to get the FIRS to hands off their turf, Ms Abubakar called on Nigerians to ensure that NIPOST gets justice.

But in a statement Tuesday, the FIRS denies spreading its tentacles too wide, insisting that the power to collect stamp duties resides with it and not NIPOST.

“We wish to state categorically that, as an agency which operates within the armbit of the law, the FIRS is determined to not only ensure that all monies collected by NIPOST into its illegally operated Stamp Duties Account are fully remitted into the Federation Account but also make sure that any kobo not accounted for in that account is legally recovered in line with the charge of President Muhammadu Buhari to the recently inaugurated Inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of stamp duties from 2016 till date,” the statement said.

“Her indecorous tweet would not have deserved any response but for the sensitive nature of the issue at stake, which if not sensibly treated and promptly corrected would likely mislead the public.”

The statement said that the FIRS is the sole agency of government charged with the responsibility of assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties.

“It is therefore shocking to us at the FIRS that such a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office would throw all caution to the air to cast aspersions on reputable public institutions like the National Assembly and the FIRS, which she accused of stealing NIPOST idea.

“This, to say the least, is a preposterous claim and great disservice to the government and people of Nigeria.”

The statement warned that anyone found culpable of misappropriating the funds in the said illegal NIPOST stamp duties account would be made to face the law as provisioned by the country’s statute books.

“The public is hereby reminded that we at the FIRS are resolute in our resolve to safeguard national interests and not any personal ego or interest as NIPOST officials appear to carry on lately.

“We therefore call on right-thinking Nigerians to disregard that ill-advised tweet by Maimuna Abubakar and allied misinformation being disseminated by NIPOST in relation to Stamp Duties collection, which by law is the responsibility of the FIRS.”

The twitter spat is the latest in a series of turf wars that has rocked the present administration, leading Nigerians to question the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Check out some of the reactions to the matter on Twitter…