By Shamsiyya HAMZA

IN Kano State, the economic capital of northwestern Nigeria, market unions charge N500 tax per week for every piece of cattle transported into any market. But they only issue a receipt for a N200 ticket per cattle. The state government says that nothing from the N500 collected on each cattle goes to its coffers.

Investigations show that local governments collect N200 on each cattle head, leaving the remaining N300 for market unions.

The situation is typical of several markets across Nigeria where accountability and transparency about taxes and levies are low.

Wudil International Cattle Market is a major example. It attracts 5,000 heads of cattle each week, being the largest cattle market in the state. Every Friday, traders come from different parts of the state and beyond to buy or sell cattle, paying N500 for each cattle they bring into the market.

This amounts to N2.5 million each week, N10 million per month and N120 million every year.

Since the state government is not involved in this cattle tax, it leaves the entire money collected to Wudil Local Government Area and the cattle market union.

The director of Budget and Planning Abdulmuminu Ajumawa, who handles revenue-related issues in Kano state, confirmed to the reporter that the state government does not collect cattle tax from any of the market in the state.

“For now, we are not yet looking at that area of taxing cattle herders in the state,” he said.

Based on what is printed on the receipt given to traders and seen by the reporter, Wudil Local Government Area gets N200 per cattle each week, N1 million for 5,000 heads of cattle per week, N4 million each month and N48 million each year.

On the other hand, the market union receives N72 million out of the N120 million collected annually from cattle traders but there is no receipt for this or any form of accountability as the union does not have to answer to anyone, not even the state government for the money so earned.

The head of the Wudil Cattle Market, Kabiru Umar Faruk, said the market survives on the tax, noting that the state government does not provide any support to it. He denied that the market union pockets the money but said the tax is used to maintain the international market.

“The state government does not really give us anything. The extra N300 we collect is meant to be used for the market, which is what we are using the money for.

“We use it to maintain the market, provide security, keep it clean and take care of other emergencies,” he said.

The chairman of Wudil Local Government Area, Bilkisu Yakubu Indabo, declined speaking after the reporter had introduced herself as a journalist. She simply said, “I am busy.”

Same story is replicated in other markets.

It is the same old story for Danbatta Cattle Market.

In 2020, Dambatta Cattle Market, alongside Wudil, got a slice of N300 million allocation by the Kano State government for the development of infrastructure in cattle markets across the state.

The state project coordinator, Ibrahim Garba Muhammad, announced this during the proposal opening for design and supervision consultancy for cattle markets on October 29, 2020, according to BusinessDay.

“The project will invest in infrastructure to provide loading and off-loading ramps, watering facilities, office space for market information, security and veterinary services, lighting for trade and security at night as well as toilet facilities,” Muhammad said.

Also in 2023, the commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Danjuma Mahmud, said the Kano State government was investing N600 million in cattle markets across the state.

Despite all the huge investments, the state government is curiously not interested in the tax potential in cattle business.

According to market unions, Danbatta Cattle Market plays host to 700 heads of cattle each week. Like in Wudil, traders pay N500 for each cattle brought into Danbatta market though they get a N200 receipt issued by the local council for each cattle. This amounts to N350,000 every week. With 52 weeks in a year, this amounts to N18.2 million every year.

Only N140,000 is returned to the local government area weekly, amounting to N7.38 million each year. This leaves N10.92 million in the hands of the market union.

However, Danbatta Local Government Chairman, Ado Muhammad said, “Yes, cattle tax is being collected here and the money goes into the local government purse, not the state government.”

He said he spoke on behalf of market leaders at Danbatta Cattle Market.

When asked whether he was aware that only N200 out of N500 is ticketed, he said: “All I know is that the market committee submits the money immediately after a day’s market. I am not aware of any other thing.”

The situation is the same at Bichi Cattle Market. Each week, traders bring in 700 heads of cattle into the market.

Like other markets, traders pay N500 for each cattle brought into Bichi Cattle Market. Yet again, only N200 receipt is issued for every piece of cattle brought into the market.

Hence this amounts to N350,000 every week and N18.2 million every year. However, only N140,000 is returned to the local government area weekly, amounting to N7.38 million each year. This leaves N10.92 million in the hands of the market union.

The head of Bichi Cattle Market, Kabir Abubakar Kabiru, denied pocketing the money but said part of the tax goes to the local government while the rest is used to maintain the market.

“The Kano State government is trying to modernise the cattle market. We relocated into a new place and only few heads of cattle are coming into the market square. We hope the market will be crowded as it used to be very soon.

“We collect N500 and send N200 to the local government. The remaining is used to provide security and maintain the market. We only maintain it on day-to-day basis from what we collect from cattle traders,” he said.

The chairman of Bichi Local Government Area, Ahmad Kado Bichi, said the cattle market is no longer as crowded as it used to be due to a recent market relocation but said, “we use all the taxes collected here formally and judiciously.”

At Kura Cattle Market, traders pay N500 for each cattle brought in. This amounts to N350,000 every week and N18.2 million every year. However, only N140,000 is returned to the local government area weekly, amounting to N7.38 million each year. Again, this leaves N10.92 million in the hands of the market union.

A member of the Market Board Committee at Kura Cattle Market, Bala Mai Unguwa, said, “Yes, of course, we collect cattle tax. We use the money to maintain the market and pay the Dustbin Committee. We spend the money on the market.”

The chairman of Kura Local Government, Yahaya Tijani Kura, denied knowledge of the cattle market despite being in the local council that he leads.

In defence of state government

Defending the state government, Kano State Commissioner for Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, said no rule or law mandates the collection of cattle tax in the state. He said cattle tax is not the state government’s business but local government and market associations or unions.

“Market stakeholders and local governments or chairmen’s offices collect the tax for their personal interest. We do not collect it,” he said.

Cattle traders lament hardship

The cattle business in Nigeria has witnessed a lull due to the dwindling purchasing power of Nigerian consumers caused majorly by inflation. Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 33.69 percent in April 2024 as against 22.22 percent in the corresponding period of 2023. On the other hand, food inflation stood at 40.53 percent in the same month as against 24.61 percent in April 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This means that the purchasing power of Nigerian consumers has continued to be eroded by inflation.

Umaru Adamu, Sarkin Fulanin Giware at Danbatta Cattle Market, told the reporter that rearing cattle has become a difficult business due to lack of a hygienic environment, insufficient grazing areas and water.

“Cattle owners take a while before responding to us mostly in terms of food provisions to the cattle and their health or medication,” he said, noting that taxes should be much lower for cattle herder to enable them to sell their products.

Babangida Babangida, a cattle trader at Bichi Local Government Area, said a cattle owner can give out over 20 heads to a herder and would not have anything in return for over a year.

“The business is quite slow and players in the market should be supported, not taxed,” he said.

Adamu Badau, a trader at Wudil International Cattles Market, said that the business is becoming tougher, noting that only milk obtained from the cattle gives them hope.

“The only thing we gain from this business is the milk. We sell the milk and use the money as our salary or wages. You can spend over 20 years rearing cattle for the owner, but the owner can put you in jail at every slightest provocation – without considering the difficulties and challenges you face.

“They take us for granted like masters do to slaves. And if we are to told pay tax for the cattle, the owners should be in responsible for that. We keep and saves billions of naira for them but no rewards in return.”

Miyetti Allah speaks

A leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Kano State, Ibrahim Kwaikwai, said in most cases, cattle owners take the herders for granted.

“They take us for granted in terms of attending our meetings or while making relevant rules and regulations. The reason is most of the owners are government stakeholders and politicians,” he said.

He said cattle herders should not be taxed, stressing that the business is becoming tougher by the day due to several reasons ranging from environmental to social issues across Nigeria.

Resistance against herders

Nigerians have resisted herders through laws. Benue State under former Governor Samuel Ortom began the implementation of anti-open-grazing law in 2017.

The law bars herders from moving their cattle from one farm to another. The law gives them an option of ranching to minimize conflicts between herders and crop farmers.

Several states such as Edo, Ekiti, Taraba, Oyo, Bayelsa, and Ondo, among others, have also announced laws to bar open grazing in their domains.

In general, Nigerians vehemently refused former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Rural Grazing Area (RUGA), which was targeted at creating grazing routes in several states.
Due to its resistance, the Federal Government, in 2021, replaced RUGA with the Livestock Intervention Programme with a view to addressing the lingering farmer-herder crisis across the country.

The rationale behind the resistance is the mayhem unleashed on several states in Nigeria by herders under Buhari.

Herdsmen conducted 654 attacks, killed 2,539 and kidnapped 253 people in Nigeria between 2017 and May 2, 2020, according to a research report José Luis Bazán, an independent researcher and analyst, based in Brussels. Another report said over 6,000 people were killed in Benue State by herders between 2015 and 2023. Several farmers and communities were sacked by herders, with many killed under controversial circumstances. This has prompted communities to resist any attempt to cede their land to herders.

“We will not give our land to herders,” said late Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who was vocal about the activities of herders in Nigeria’s South.

Tax experts knock Kano government

A Lagos-based tax expert, Chinelo Adindu, said the Kano State government must take an interest the tax being collected from cattle owners or traders.

According to her, there is often going to be a foul play at the local government and the market union levels once the state government takes no interest in the tax.

“The system should be digitised. Handing them N500 every week for a piece if cattle is a recipe for corruption. Reduce human interference and allow people to pay the money into the bank or just through a digital process,” she noted.

A tax analyst, Ike Ibeabuchi, explained that Kano State government must call for an investigation into the cattle taxes collected from the markets in the last 20 years to identify how much has been lost to the unions.

“The state needs to change its strategy. Leaving millions of naira to market unions does not make any sense. There should be some level of accountability to the state, otherwise it will continue to be a jamboree.”

This report republished from Tozali was made possible with support from the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting under the Tax Justice Reporting Project.