On February 29, 2024, a claim went viral on WhatsApp and X (formerly Twitter) that the Federal Government wants to build an ICT platform for $95 million to fine employers of labor. According to the comments on the tweet, the ICT platform will be a portal where employers of foreigners will pay tax for every foreigner working in the Nigerian firm. The cost of building and running the platform will be $95 million.
Attached to the tweet is an image (screenshot) of a webpage with the subheading “Expatriates Employment Levy.”
As of the time of this report, the tweet has garnered over 76,000 views.
Claim: The Federal Government wants to build an ICT platform for $95 million to fine employers of labor
Verification:
The CDD War Room traced the image attached to the tweet to the official website of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC). We found that the ICRC reports directly to the Presidency and is in charge of superintending and regulating public-private partnerships (PPP) on public infrastructures in Nigeria.
We found that the Expatriate Employment Levy was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in May 2023 alongside the concession of Burutu & Onne port, Abuja & Lagos Airport.
According to the released details, “The Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL) project seeks to boost the revenue generation of the country through the imposition of levy on companies that employ expatriates.
It aims to discourage employers from hiring expatriates for jobs that Nigerians could easily do. The project will employ a robust ICT System for the collection of Expatriate Employment Levy.
The project is approved at a cost of $95,024,000, with Messrs Air Wave Ltd as a concessionaire and an estimated revenue of $13,391,529,119 ($13.4 billion).”
The CDD War Room found that the Bola Tinubu administration took over the EEL project, developed a policy document (handbook), and launched it on February 28, 2024. The EEL project will be supervised by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) as a government revenue collection initiative.
According to the policy document, private sector employers hiring foreign nationals on a long-term assignment (for a minimum of 183 days within a non-consecutive 12-month period) intending to file a work or residence application (or renewal) or those intending to change their employee’s status from business visitor to work authorized, must pay a one-off annual payment of USD 15,000 for each foreign national director. For all other positions, they must pay USD 10,000. All employers must utilize the EEL portal to submit these payments.
Verdict: TRUE
The CDD War Room can confirm that the FG has approved the plan to build an ICT platform for $95, 024, 000 with an estimated revenue of $13,391,529,119 ($13.4 billion). According to the details available on the ICRC website, the project will employ a robust ICT system whereby companies that employ expatriates will pay levies to the Federal Government. The project was awarded to Messrs Air Wave Ltd as a concessionaire.
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