Ikimi drags Okowa to court over passenger welfare levy

Warri-based fiery lawyer and human rights activist, Oghenejabor Ikimi, has dragged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to a High Court, sitting at Otor-Udu, Udu Local Government Area, over the introduction of Passenger Welfare Scheme levy.

Ikimi, in the originating summons in Suit No: OUHC/111/2016 OGHENEJABOR IKIMI, ESQ., VS. GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE and 2 ORS, filed on July 8, is asking the court to determine “whether the Defendants’ Passenger Welfare Scheme and the daily tax paid by operators of motorcycles and tricycles in Delta State are in tandem with the taxes and levies approved for collection by the state government under Part II of the Schedule to the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, 2004 (as amended).”

The human rights lawyer is also asking the court to determine whether “the Defendants can collect      taxes and levies that are not listed in Part II of the Schedule to the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, 2004 (as amended) in Delta State.”

Ikimi’s third plea centers on whether “the assessment or collection of taxes or levies on behalf of the Defendants by private tax consultants or private individuals and bodies is in tandem with the provisions of Sections 2(1), 3 and 4 of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, 2004 (as amended).”

The applicant is, therefore, praying the court to restrain the Defendants from further execution of the Passengers Welfare Scheme and daily tax collection from operators of motorcycles and tricycles and any other reliefs deemed fit.

It will be recalled that Ikimi had, earlier in June, given the state government a seven-day ultimatum to discontinue the the collection of taxes and levies imposed on commuters in a petition sent to Governor Okowa.

The legal practitioner, in the petition sent to the governor and published in

, threatened to approach the courts after the expiration of the seven days if his advice was not heeded.