Acting Chairman, Nasarawa State Internal
Revenue Service Board, Alhaji Usman Okposhi has explained that between January
and August 2017, the board has generated over N3billion as internally generated
revenue for the state government, noting that the target of the board is to
generate up to N25 billion monthly.
Okposhi who spoke exclusively to our
correspondent yesterday in Lafia on the performance of the board under his
leadership explained that since the creation of the state 21 years ago, the
state has not had it so good in terms of revenue generation until he came on
board.
He also disclosed that the board in its
attempt to block loopholes and leakages in the state, arrested and detained six
fake revenue tax collectors in Karu local government area of the state for
printing fake receipts and number plate, adding that the board will soon seal
up commercial banks for excess charges on government accounts.
He said the target of the board is to
generate about N25 billion monthly for the state, noting that he intends to
borrow a leaf from the people that have done it well in the past, using Lagos
state as a case study.
According to him “From 1996 when the state
was created to 1999 during the military era, the IGR of the state was about N20
million monthly, and from 1999 up to 2011 the IGR of the state was between N80
to N90 million monthly until I took over and increased it to over N300 million
monthly which is the first of its kind in the history of the state and it keeps
increasing, it is my prayer that one day, we can replicate what Lagos is doing
in Nasarawa by generating up to N25 billion a month”
He explained that the state government had
at different times engaged the services of consultants who took over the board
with a target but folded up without meeting the target, adding that the state
governor was impressed with what he has done and has donated to the board four
operational vehicles to encourage him.
On allegations that he connived with
illegal tax collectors and banks to defraud the state of its share of
percentage on income tax being deducted, Mr Okposhi explained that the board
does not collect tax from organizations or banks directly as it is paid through
a bank account with tellers which are all documented.
Mr Okposhi added that the recent problem
between the board and some commercial banks in Lafia which led to sealing up
their premises was because they refused to remit to the board tax deducted from
individual accounts and denied the board’s consultant the opportunity to audit
their records on the accounts
He explained that at
no point did Olam farms Nigeria limited paid tax amounting to N200 million
monthly as alleged, adding that the highest tax Olam farms has paid is N1.3
million monthly saying that it is very easy to detect its fake receipts because
it is printed by government security minting and printing company in Lagos with
security features embedded in it.
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