Photo caption: NEPZA logo
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority and the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts have vowed to activate and strictly enforce regulations guiding operations within Free Trade Zones to ensure prompt and full remittances into the Federation Account.
This resolution was reached during an oversight visit by the House Committee to the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Free Zone Enterprise and the Lagos Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
A statement issued on Friday by NEPZA’s Head of Corporate Communications, Martins Odeh, quoted the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, as reaffirming NEPZA’s commitment to accountability and regulatory compliance across all zones.
Ogunyemi noted that while some of the functional zones and their enterprises have not fared badly in remittances, NEPZA is now poised to enforce existing regulations to ensure complete compliance across the board.
“The authority has again notified all operators of its readiness to strictly apply the regulation to achieve maximum compliance in this regard,” Ogunyemi stated.
“I would like to assure the committee of our resolve to continue to uphold the tenets of transparency, accountability, and fiscal probity in the management of the scheme.”
The NEPZA boss also lauded the strides made by the Lagos Free Zone and Dangote Refinery, describing them as key players in Nigeria’s industrial advancement. However, he stressed the need for all Free Trade Zones in the country to step up efforts to meet their obligations to the government.
On his part, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, expressed satisfaction with the level of investment and industrial activities witnessed at the two zones, noting their significance in attracting both local and foreign investment.
He, however, emphasised that the Free Trade Zone scheme must be continually refined to serve its primary objective of accelerating national economic growth and industrialisation.
The lawmaker also called on NEPZA to redouble efforts in expanding the Free Trade Zone scheme to other regions across the country to ensure equity and balance in the nation’s industrialisation process.
“We are happy with what we have seen here so far. We recognise that both the Dangote Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE and the Lagos Free Zone are excellent examples of the successes made of the scheme by NEPZA. However, NEPZA must work harder to spread the scheme across other parts of the country for the sake of equity and balancing the industrialisation process.
“The Free Trade Zones are designed to catalyse industrial development. While we are impressed with the operations here, it is imperative that all regulations guiding transparency and business conduct within the zones be fully activated to guarantee appropriate remittances to the Federation Account.
“The committee understands that many of the zones are inactive for some reasons beyond us. The MD/CEO of NEPZA and his team should do something quickly to avoid leaving those operation licenses in the hands of non-free trade zone operators,” the committee chairman said.
Nigeria currently has 42 active Free Trade Zones with over 500 licensed free zone enterprises operating in these zones. The Dangote Refinery and the Lagos Free Zone, a rapidly expanding industrial hub, are both licensed under NEPZA’s regulatory framework. Their compliance with fiscal regulations, the committee warned, would serve as a benchmark for other operators in the scheme.
