…As FCTA seals FIRS office over non-payment of ground rent
By Charles Ebi
Chairman, Joint Tax Board ,JTB, Dr Zacch Adedeji, has urged officials of the board to organise traders and artisans into a formal body before capturing them in the tax net.
Adedeji said that this was in line with the agenda of President Bola Tinubu not to tax poverty but prosperity. The chairman stated this at the 157th Joint Tax Board meeting held in Ibadan on Monday.
The theme of the meeting is “Taxation of the Informal Sector: Potentials and Challenges”.
Speaking on the theme of the event, Adedeji stressed the need to evolve a system that would make the informal sector formal before it could be taxed.
Adedeji, who also doubles as the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, said “What I would not expect from the JTB meeting is to define a system that would tax the informal sector.
“The only thing is to formalise the informal sector, not to design a system on how to collect tax from market men and women.
“As revenue administrator, our goal is to organise the informal sector so that it can fit into existing tax law”.
Citing a report of the National Bureau of Statistics ,NBS, in the first quarter of 2023, the chairman said that the nation’s unemployment index was attributable to recognised informal work.
Adedeji stated that workers in that sector accounted for 92.6% of the employed population in the country as of Q1 2023.
“JTB IS transitioning to the Joint Revenue Board with expanded scope and functions.
“We are hopeful that by the time we hold the next meeting of the Board, the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill will have been signed into Law by the President.
“The meetings of the board provide the platform for members to engage and brainstorm on contemporary and emerging issues on tax and taxation”, he said.
In his address, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, said the theme of the meeting was apt and timely, stressing that it coincides with the agenda of the state to improve on its internally generated revenue.
According to him, the meeting should find the best way forward in addressing the issue of the informal sector and balance the identified challenges.
“Nigeria is rich in natural resources, but it is a poor country because economic prosperity is not based on natural resources”.
Makinde also said that knowledge, skill and intensive production were required for economic prosperity, not just the availability of natural resources.
He stressed the need to move from expecting Federal Allocations to generating income internally.
“We are actively ensuring that people are productive and moving the revenue base forward”, Makinde said.
The Governor said that the tax drive should be done by simplifying tax processes, incentives for compliance, like access to empowerment schemes and loans.
He urged JTB to deepen partnership and innovation in using data on tax to track and administer it.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue, Mr Olufemi Awakan, said the meeting was to address tax-related matters, evolve a workable, effective, and An Efficient tax system across the states and at the Federal level. He urged participants to find amicable solutions to challenges of tax jurisdiction, among others.
Tax administrators from all the 36 states of the federation, who are members of JTB, were in attendance.
Meanwhile, while the FIRS Chairman was still Speaking in Ibadan, Federal Capital Territory Administration ,FCTA, in Abuja on Monday sealed the Federal Inland Revenue Service ,FIRS, office in Zone 5 and Access Bank branch in Wuse, over their failure to pay ground rent for over 25 years.
The exercise which was made known by FCT Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka via his facebook page marks the beginning of a sweeping enforcement exercise targeting thousands of defaulters in the nation’s capital city.
Also sealed was the Total petrol station in Zone 5, Abuja, whose land title had earlier been revoked on similar grounds.
The move follows the FCTA’s threat to reclaim possession of properties with outstanding ground rent stretching back decades.
Earlier last week the enforcement action stems from a public announcement made by the FCTA on March 18, 2025, revoking 4,794 land titles across key districts in Phase 1 of the Federal Capital City ,FCC, due to prolonged non-payment of statutory ground rent.
Ground rent is a mandatory annual payment tied to the Right of Occupancy under Nigeria’s Land Use Act.
As per the Act, non-payment constitutes a breach of the terms of ownership and empowers the government to revoke such rights.
Specifically, Section 28, Subsections 5(a) and (b) of the Land Use Act provides the legal basis for the revocations.
As of March 2025, records showed that a total of 8,375 property owners had defaulted in ground rent payments for periods ranging from one to 43 years, with arrears totaling N6.97bn.
Of these, 4,794 titles spanning a decade or more in default were revoked, with the FCTA set to take full possession beginning May 26, 2025.
The properties affected by the enforcement are located in some of Abuja’s most prestigious and commercially strategic districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
During a press briefing held ahead of the enforcement exercise, Olayinka, addressed journalists alongside the Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, and the Director of the Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima.
They stated that ownership of the revoked titles had legally reverted to the FCTA.
Galadima noted that enforcement would include sealing of affected properties and restricting access to them.
“There is no legal decision restraining the FCTA, so the administration is free to carry out its lawful responsibilities”, Nwankwoeze stated when asked about the likelihood of litigation from affected owners.
He also disclosed that beyond the current round of enforcement, the administration is compiling a list of other defaulting titleholders, especially those who owe between one and ten years’ rent.
These individuals were granted a 21-day grace period to clear their debts or risk similar sanctions.
The FCTA has reassured the public that the property possession exercise will follow due process and reiterated its commitment to maintaining orderly land administration, accountability, and lawful use of public assets in the nation’s capital.
In a swift reaction FIRS said it was wrong for the Federal Capital Territory Administration to shut down one of its offices in Abuja, stating that no amount is being owed as ground rent The agency described the action as “malicious” and “unprofessional”.
In a statement released via X (formerly Twitter), Aderonke Atoyebi, Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the FIRS Executive Chairman, accused the FCTA of unfairly targeting the agency.
He said it is highly unprofessional the Wike-led FCTA to close its office, disrupting members of staff from performing their duties when it has done nothing wrong.
She said, “It is highly unprofessional of the Wike-led FCTA to close our office, disrupting staff from performing their duties when we have done nothing wrong, especially during a crucial week as we prepare to sign the Tax Reform Bills. FCTA, you have erred gravely; FIRS owes you nothing”, Atoyebi asserted.
She further accused the FCTA of attempting to use FIRS as a scapegoat, adding, “If you are looking for a fall guy, look elsewhere. We should not be your scapegoat when you know full well that the falsehoods you spread in the media and your malicious, illegal actions will harm our operations”.
Atoyebi maintained that the agency has no outstanding rent payments to the FCTA for the past 25 years and insisted that all obligations had been settled up to 2023.
“We have the evidence”, she emphasised, pushing back against claims of indebtedness.
According to her, the incident comes at a critical juncture for Nigeria’s tax system, with major reform legislation expected to be finalised soon.
She warned that such disruptions could undermine public confidence and delay the implementation of key fiscal policies.
