Muhammadu Buhari, the former president of Nigeria, put a 5% excise levy on telecommunication services into law in spite of opposition, which might result in higher call, data, and SMS rates.
On May 28, 2023, Buhari signed the Finance Act 2023 into law as one of his final official acts as president.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, recently announced that the government has exempted the telecoms industry from excise duty tax after a number of these attempts were greeted with resistance.
Industry analysts claim that once the federal government discloses its collection mechanisms, the excise charge on telecommunications tax would be put into effect.
However, the Association of Licensed Telecom Owners Chairman claims the telecoms sector remains exempted from the tax because of the presidential approval that was granted to it by the former president.