The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has accused the federal government of using the recently mandated registration of PoS operators in Nigeria as an avenue to tax more Nigerians to generate revenue for the government.
National General Secretary of the AMMBAN, Oluwasegun Elegbede, in a statement on Tuesday, said the claim by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that it was fighting PoS crime through registration, was flawed.
He noted that crimes purportedly carried out through PoS cannot be tackled with registration.
Elegbede further accused the CAC of threatening to deploy the police to go after agents who fail to register at the end of the ultimatum it gave.
“We believe this directive is unnecessary, contradictory to existing laws, and amounts to a mere revenue generation move to further tax hapless Nigerians,” it added.
AMMBAN argued that many of the PoS agents are individuals and registration for them is not mandatory by law, citing Section 18(1) of CAMA, which states that “a person may apply to the Commission for the registration of a company” and Section 22(1), which states that “a company shall be deemed to be a separate legal entity from its members.”
The group noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on financial inclusion and development states that “agency banking services shall be provided by agents who are individuals or non-individuals (companies) registered with the CBN.”
“This policy clearly recognizes the distinction between individuals and non-individuals and does not require individuals to register with the CAC,” AMMBAN said.
AMMBAN also reacted to a recent allegation of cash hoarding against the PoS operators and banks made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing the allegation as damaging to the reputation of its members who are doing their businesses legitimately.
