The Kogi State Inland Revenue Service (KIRS) has written to all political parties contesting in the state demanding the sum of N37 million each being signage fees for the parties’ campaign posters across the state.
The letter dated October 24, 2022 with reference number KIRS/MDA/Vol/13095 is expected to cover all elective positions being contested for by the political parties in the state.
A breakdown of the fees indicates that the presidential candidates have been billed N10 million while the senatorial candidates will pay N2 million each and the House of Representatives and the state assembly candidates will pay N1 million and 500,000 respectively.
The letter addressed to the party chairmen read in part, “demand notice for N37 million on signage fees for your party’s campaign posters across Kogi State.
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“Pursuant to the provision of the Kogi State Signage and Advertisement Law, KOSSAL 2022, and other extant laws, we present in the table below, the obligation of your party to the Kogi State government in signage fees in respect of campaign posters and flyers of your candidates contesting various electives offices in the forthcoming 2023 general elections:
“1 Presidential position – N10 million, 3 Senatorial candidates – N6 million, 9 House of Representatives candidates – N9 million, 25 house of Assembly candidates – N12,500. Consequently, whereby the demand for the payment of N37 million is not paid within 14 days, we shall initiate enforcement procedures.”
Meanwhile, the Acting Chairman of KGIRS, Sule Salihu Enehi has said that Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has no business in the tax clearance and advertisement of political parties’ billboard charges in the state.
Enehi made the clarification at a press briefing while refuting some social media insinuations that Governor Bello sent his revenue men to intimidate other political parties in the state.
The chairman pointed out that any action of the revenue service has a constitutional backing, saying “Section 85 (2) of Personal Income Tax, 2021 as amended, vest the power to verify tax clearance certificate in the issuing tax authority.”
He disclosed that obtaining a tax clearance through misrepresentation, forgery, falsification, according to the law is guilty of an offence and such offender is liable for prosecution.
The acting chairman who stated that the signage law was assented to by Governor Yahaya Bello in September 2022, noted that the law empowered KGIRS to enforce it.
“Therefore, for any body or organization to come out now and claim that Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello brought the law to witchhunt opposition parties in the state is ruse and far from truth,” he said.
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