The House of Representatives has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) suspend the implementation of the import/export electronic invoice policy.
The main bank was ordered to adopt a 90-day deadline for the implementation of fiscal measures to avoid destabilizing effects on the economy.
These resolutions followed a motion introduced by Leke Abejide (ADC, Kogi), on Thursday.
The main bank had announced that electronic invoicing for imports and exports in the country would start on February 1.
According to the circular published by CBN, all import and export operations would require the submission of an electronic invoice authenticated by authorized dealer banks on Nigeria’s one-stop-shop portal – Trade Monitoring System.
The new policy seeks to eliminate the use of paper and other obsolete records and replace them with an electronic system with a standardized format.
The movement…
Mr. Abejide, who is also chairman of the Customs and Excise Committee, said that the CBN’s e-invoicing policy needs a certain level of awareness before the full implementation of the policy.
“Sudden monetary/fiscal circular implemented hastily or half-heartedly often leads to a political leap, hence a major policy change like this,” the lawmaker said.
Abejide said that “a grace period of 90 days is generally expected for transactions to run their full course to avoid distortions in the economy and also to avoid price distortions in trade.”
He said the CBN has been “gradually diverted” from its sole role of providing monetary policy measures to concentrate on fiscal policy measures, which is the role of the federal finance ministry.
He added that bad timing “will distort the prices of goods and services and create bottlenecks for imports and exports, delay transactions and consequently cause port congestion.”
“Importers and exporters in the manufacturing, mining and commercial sectors would be affected because, as the exceptions indicate, all exporters and importers with an accumulated billing value equal to or greater than $500,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency would be affected, which is practically impossible to have any below this value cumulatively,” Abejide said.
The motion was approved when the motion was put to a vote by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.