Stop ‘reckless’ taxation on Abia traders, APC chieftain tells Otti

… says traders deserve encouragement

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Ikonne, has urged the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, to shelve taxes imposed on traders, which he described as crippling and detrimental to the survival of small-scale businesses.

Ikonne, in his statement, revealed that traders in Ariaria International Market, who previously paid N18,000 per shop, are now forced to pay over N36,000 yearly.

He noted that the same story of pain and suffocating taxation is playing out at Ekeoha Shopping Centre, Timber Market, and other trading clusters in Aba.

Ikonne, in the statement signed by his media aide, Dr Ujo Justice, described the multiple taxation on Abia traders are subjected to as insensitive, exploitative, and destructive to the commercial lifeline of Nigeria.

“With more than 88,000 shops in Ariaria alone, this translates to an outrageous N3.1 billion annually.

“Why should Aba traders, the very heartbeat of commerce in southern Nigeria, be strangled by such reckless and selfish-driven taxation?”

He maintained that Governor Otti has reneged on his promise to Aba traders during his campaign to lower taxes “Instead of providing relief, the administration is exploiting the sweat of hardworking businessmen and women.”

He further decried the government’s failure to redeem its pledge on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the previous administration, which guaranteed traders the right to reclaim their shops after remodelling.

“That agreement has been thrown into oblivion, leaving traders displaced, frustrated, and at the mercy of government manipulation.

“A people-centred administration should protect the interests of its traders, not betray them.”

Ikonne also wondered why the Otti government is asking traders in Ariaria to pay as high as ₦15 million to re-acquire their shops after remodelling, describing it as an anti-trader policy that adds untold hardship and suffering.

He stressed that the monthly federal allocation of over ₦30 billion to Abia State and Local Government, which receives over N100 million, is more than enough to provide modern, well-equipped markets with necessary amenities such as power supply, potable water, fire service stations, and security, without exploiting traders.

“There is no justification for squeezing Aba traders dry when the government has the financial capacity to build these markets and still provide essential infrastructure. This N15 million shop fee and N36,000 annual revenue levy are wicked, exploitative, and not in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which is designed to water the ground for the masses and ease the burden of doing business,” he declared.

He emphasised that despite President Tinubu’s administration ensuring that Abia receives huge allocations, excluding oil derivation funds as an NDDC state, Aba, the state’s economic capital, remains abandoned and strangled by taxation without development.

Ikonne called on Governor Otti to immediately reverse his administration’s tax regime, respect the MoU with traders, and deliver visible, people-oriented governance, warning that “a government that punishes Aba traders, who drive the state’s economy and feed Nigeria’s commerce, has already failed the people it claims to serve.”

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