Pharmacists have taken Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to court over a levy they consider “illegal” and unnecessary “double taxation” on pharmacies.
They say officials of AMAC have been “harassing and intimidating” pharmacists running drug outlets in Abuja “for the collection of an illegal levy they call business permit levy,” according to Uzoma Nwaigudu, chairman of Association of Community Pharmacists in Abuja.
Pharmacies have been charged indiscriminate levies between N30,000 and N150,000 a year as registration for their business premises with AMAC, without documentation.
“They just drop a demand notice and then use touts and police to harass our members,” said Nwaigudu.
He said AMAC officials were overstepping the bounds of their duties to regulate businesses.
Constitutionally, Nwaigudu said, “drugs and poisons are not within the jurisdiction of the state or local government.”
The grouping falls into an exclusive list handled by federal power, and pharmacies are regulated by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, which charges fees to register pharmacies.
“What they are trying to do is to force pharmacies to pay an illegal fee amounting to double taxation, because we pay a fee for registration of premises to the Pharmacists Council [of Nigeria],” he said.
Pharmacists have already challenged AMAC in court and a suit is pending second hearing at the Supreme Court, after an initial hearing last December.
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria insists its members will not honour levy demands from AMAC until the court rules on its case.
AMAC has not responded to the claims so far.
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