The Senate Committee on Communications on Monday is considering a new bill that will empower the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to collect stamp duty for the Federal Government.
The lawmakers also deliberated on the Nationwide Toll-Free Emergency number (Establishment) Bill, 2021 at the hearing.
The NIPOST and Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) have an ongoing dispute on which agency had the constitutional right to collect stamp duty in the country.
Addressing the lawmakers, the Post Master General of the Federation, Dr Ismail Adewusi, urged the National Assembly to speed up work on the bill as the present Act was obsolete and inadequate in view of the rapid developments and changes in the industry.
He pointed that when the bill is passed into law, it will improve postal revenue and encourage local and foreign investments in Nigeria’s postal industry.
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The sponsor of the National Toll-Free Emergency Bill, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented at the hearing by his colleague, Senator Tolu Odebiyi, said the bill when passed and signed into law would make 112 the emergency number of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said that the National Toll-Free Emergency Bill presently before the National Assembly would establish a channel and put in place a structure to guarantee swift security response to Nigerians in times of emergencies.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communication, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said the Nigerian Postal Service Act (Repeal and Establishment) Bill, 2021, sought to unbundle the agency, whose responsibility would be the provision of universal postal services in Nigeria.
She explained that the bill made provision for the administration and planning of a national post code system in line with global standards for efficient mail delivery.
