Niger govt recovers N300m as tax payment from commercial banks, AEDC

Niger government has said it has recovered about N300 million as tax payment from some commercial banks and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) who were owing the state government.

Chairman of the state Board of Internal Revenue, Mr Mohammed Etsu, made the disclosure when he appeared before members of the state house of assembly at the plenary session last Thursday in Minna.

It would be recalled that the lawmakers had on February 15, invited the chairman to appear before the plenary to explain strategies employed to improve the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

He explained that the commercial banks and AEDC who were business ventures were owing the state about N500 million taxes, adding that the banks and AEDC office were sealed up by the board for non-payment of taxes.

Etsu said the banks and the DISCO/company were able to reduce their debts with N300 million as a result of compliance action taken upon them.

He, however, said that the board had taken measures to improve the IGR of the state through human re-organisation, skills gap, introduction of integrated tax administration system, compliance and enforcement, tax payers service and online tax clearance.

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He disclosed further that over 70 percent of staff of the board were managerial staff, stressing that there was the need to employ junior staff for effective tax collections.

He noted that the monthly revenue generation of the state had improved from N500 million to about N1 billion, adding that the board had initiated a private member bill for the amendment of the law on revenue in order to strengthen the board.

In his contribution, the member, representing Mokwa Constituency, Hon. Abdullahi Garba, lamented that most neighboring states were generating about N2 billion to N3 billion monthly, adding that the state was blessed with resources to generate more than N1 billion.

He urged the board to explore all potentials and of the state to improve the IGR, adding that most Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were not functioning due to inadequate access to funds.

Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, called on the house committee on finance to assist the chairman as well as meet with relevant stakeholders, consultants contracted by MDAs to know their challenges with the view to proffer solution on how to improve IGR.