$15,000 Expatriate Levy Imposed By Interior Ministry Has Consequences- NEFGAD Warns

The Network for the Actualization of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD) has said that the new expatriate employment levy which was imposed by the Ministry of Interior has dire implications for foreign investments.

NEFGAD gave the warning in a letter to the president which was signed by its Head of Office Mr. Akingunola Omoniyi.

The letter was in reaction to the Ministry of Interior’s launch of the Expatriate Employment Handbook (EEH) which it said was aimed at enhancing skills transfer in Nigeria. However, the document imposed a levy of between$10,000 to US$15,000 on employers that employ expatriates.

According to NEFGAD, such a levy is discriminatory and has diplomatic implications which include the likelihood of reciprocity by foreign countries whose citizens are forced to cough out thousands of dollars for merely choosing to invest or work in Nigeria.

NEFGAD said, “The idea of the Interior Ministry on the policy is utterly duplicative, because, the extant Handbook on Expatriate Quota Administration in Nigeria (HEQAN) (Revised, 2022) formulated by the same Ministry of Interior mandates all expatriates and Nigerian firms to employ at least two Nigerian understudies for each expatriate employed.

“The HEQAN also imposed penalties of varying degrees on companies that violate the understudy rules. What is required of this regulation to make the desired impact is enforcement, a task the Interior Ministry had failed to accomplish’’. Mr Akingunola Said.

‘’policies that have serious international bearing and portends immense diplomatic implications should essentially have the involvement of the National Assembly which will guarantee necessary and rich citizens and stakeholders input rather than mere ‘ministerial invocation’ that this Expatriate Levy policy suggests.”

NEFGAD argued that the Expatriate Employment Levy would generate dire diplomatic, legal, and economic problems for the country than it was intended to solve by the proponents.

According to him, imposing a $15,000 levy is purely exploitative adding that given the current economic hardship, Nigeria cannot afford to maintain such an unfair and incredulous reputation.

NEFGAD added, “We should bear in mind that there are more Nigerians working overseas who the possible reciprocal effect of the expatriate levy policy will greatly and negatively affect.

“To avoid disastrous diplomatic and economic distortions that may arise in the form of diplomatic retaliations and disincentives to foreign investments in the country, the Group calls on Mr. President to put a hold on the implementation of the policy to pave the way for necessary considerations by the National Assembly and or relevant stakeholders.”