The Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, says while the prices of other food commodities have recorded a minimal drop in the last few days, market prices of beans have significantly gone up.

Rewane stated this on Channels Television’s Business Morning segment of Sunrise Daily breakfast programme on Thursday.

“We’ve seen onions come down sharply to N115,000, and rice has also come down to N110,000; it was as high as N120,000. The commodity that is surprising to everybody is beans; beans has gone out of storage and out of reach,” he said.

According to market checks by our correspondent, traders sold a paint rubber of beans for N13,000 and a derica of the commodity for N3,000 while a bag of beans goes for as high as N180,000.

The economist attributed the hike in beans’ prices to recent flooding which ravaged food-producing states like Borno, Bauchi, and Sokoto, amongst others.

“Flooding has destroyed a lot of goods,” Rewane said, adding that the costs of moving agricultural produce from farms to the markets have also gone up due to a recent hike in petrol prices — from around N600 to about N1,000 per litre.

The economist predicted that food inflation would increase in the coming weeks but was optimistic that duty waivers on expected imported commodities would moderate prices.

“For now, despite everything, we think that inflation will still increase. Food inflation in particular will increase; headline inflation will increase to 34% but this is only temporary. When the imported commodities that we are going to enjoy the duty waivers come into the country, those prices will start to reduce,” Rewane said.

On October 1, 2024. President Bola Tinubu said his administration is focused on restoring peace to the troubled parts of the North so that farmers displaced by bandits and kidnapping can return to their farmlands and increase food production.

“We expect to see a leap in food production and a downward spiral in food costs. I promise you, we shall not falter on this,” Tinubu said on Tuesday during his 2024 Anniversary Broadcast on the occasion of Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day Anniversary.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday submitted four executive bills to the National Assembly, targeting comprehensive tax reforms. One of the major proposals is renaming the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), which will be responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for federal revenues.

In a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the bill titled “The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill” aims to repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act of 2007. The other bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, all aimed at creating a transparent and efficient fiscal regime.

President Tinubu emphasized that the reforms will enhance taxpayer compliance, strengthen fiscal institutions, and encourage investment, ultimately boosting Nigeria’s economic growth.
The letter, titled “Transmission of Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly,” also included three other reform bills:

The Nigeria Tax Bill that aims to provide a consolidated fiscal framework for taxation in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill that seeks to establish a clear legal framework for fair and efficient tax administration, promoting ease of compliance, reducing disputes, and optimizing revenue collection.

The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill which proposes the creation of a Joint Revenue Board, Tax Appeal Tribunal, and the Office of the Tax Ombudsman, all intended to harmonize revenue administration and resolve disputes.

President Tinubu reiterated the benefits of the proposed reforms, which aim to improve taxpayer compliance, strengthen fiscal institutions, and create a more transparent fiscal regime.

According to the President, the proposed tax bill presents substantial benefits to a library, government connectives and economic growth by enhancing tax payers compliance strengthening fiscal institutions, and fostering a more effective and transparent fiscal regime.

“I am confident that the bill when passed, will encourage investment, boost consumer spending and stimulate Nigeria’s economic growth”, he stressed.

Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils – have shared a total sum of N1,358.075 billion as of July 2024 Federation Accounts Revenue.

Of the N1,358.075 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N431.079 billion, and the State Government received a total sum of N473.477 billion.

The Local Government Councils received a total sum of N343.703 billion, and a total sum of N109.816 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

The N1,358.075 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N161.593 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N582.307 billion and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N18.818 billion.

Also included in the total distributable revenue was Exchange Difference revenue of N581.710 billion and Solid Mineral revenue of N13.647 billion.

The revenue distribution was announced at the August 2024 meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja on Friday, August 16, 2024.

A communique issued by FAAC indicated that total revenue of N2,613.791 billion was available in July 2024. The total deduction for the cost of collection was N99.756 billion, while total transfers, interventions and refunds were N1,155.960 billion.

According to the communique, gross statutory revenue of N1,387.150 billion was received for July 2024. This was lower than the sum of N1,432.667 billion received in June 2024 by N45.517 billion.

Gross revenue of N625.329 billion was available from VAT in July 2024. This was higher than the N562.685 billion available in June 2024 by N62.644 billion.

On the N161.593 billion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N58.545 billion and the State Governments received N29.695 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N22.894 billion, and the sum of N50.459 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting states as derivation revenue.

From the N582.307 billion distributable VAT revenue, the Federal Government received N87.346 billion, the State Governments received N291.154 billion and the Local Government Councils received N203.807 billion

In a statement issued by Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, a total sum of N2.823 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N18.818 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL). The State Governments received N9.409 billion and the Local Government Councils received N6.586 billion.

On the N581.710 billion Exchange Difference revenue, the communique stated that the Federal Government received N276.110 billion and the State Governments received N140.047 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N107.970 billion, while the sum of N57.583 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

From the N13.647 billion Solid Mineral revenue, the Federal Government received N6.255 billion and the State Governments received N3.172 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N2.446 billion, while the sum of N1.774 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

As presented in the communiqué, in July 2024, Oil and Gas Royalty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), VAT, Import Duty, EMTL and CET Levies increased significantly.

Furthermore, Companies Income Tax (CIT) recorded a decrease while Excise Duties increased only marginally.

The balance in the ECA was $473,754.57