The Nigeria Export Process Zones of Authority (NEPZA) Tuesday said the free trade zones only generated N11.1 billion between 2020 and 2023 as against the earlier N11.11 trillion erroneously captured in the authority’s submission to the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment.
A statement signed by Martins Odeh, head, Corporate Communications, NEPZA, quoted the managing director of the authority, Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, as saying on Monday in Abuja that the initial quoted figure was a regrettable ‘typographical mishap.’
Dr Ogunyemi, who is also the chief executive officer of NEPZA, ] stated that the sum of N377.33 million was generated in 2020 while N3.11 billion accrued to the Federation Account in 2021 from the scheme.
He added that the total remittances from the scheme in 2022 stood at N3.44 billion while an impressive N4.170 billion came through in 2023.
“The attention of the management has been brought to the news making around that the authority remitted a whopping sum of N11.11 trillion to the Federation Account as at October 2023. This piece of information was a classical typographical error and it is regrettable.
“Let me emphatically state that the remittances from the Free Trade Zones from 2020 to 2023 stood at N11.1 billion only. We, are however making good progress to take the scheme to that point where it can generate such huge revenue for the government.
“For instance, in 2023, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated N59.38 billion, and the Immigration Services received N828.7 million from the free trade zones while the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) garnered N8.738 billion from the sub-sector,’’ he said.
Dr Ogunyemi also stated that the authority was gradually transforming the scheme to become the country’s sustainable economic gateways, adding that more efforts and support were needed to position the scheme for greater exploit.
“The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) is the major driver of government’s initiative to diversify the Nigerian economy. With attractive investment packages and a focus on economy-driven sectors, NEPZA provides investment opportunities in different sectors across the country,’’ Dr Ogunyemi said.