Revenue collection: Abia sets up enforcement taskforce

… appeals to transport unions to comply

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia 

As Abia State government resumes collection of revenues suspended at the inception of the Dr. Alex Otti-led administration, the government has set up a taskforce charged with ensuring compliance by all stakeholders with the new revenue regime.

The taskforce, codenamed Abia State Harmonised Revenue Enforcement Team (AHARET), according to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Internally -Generated Revenue (IGR), Chimereze Okigbo, has been approved by Governor Otti to function as “a social mechanism  to drive compliance around revenue collection.” The body would also check touting and illegal revenue collection.

He said that with time, AHARET “would ensure that all the necessary compliance check is done in the face of the law to ensure that people comply with what we (government) are doing.”

Okigbo disclosed the formation of AHARET to newsmen in Umuahia on Wednesday after a meeting with members of transport unions operating in the state.

He said that AHARET is peopled by men of integrity, including Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Civil and public servants, explaining that the meeting afforded members of the Taskforce the opportunity to explain the creation of HARET, its modus operandi and to seek the commercial motorists’ partnership in the collection of government revenue from their members.

“Our discussion was just around how they (commercial transport unions) can partner with government and ensure that all the necessary collectables are collected,” Okigbo said.

“You will agree with me that what we are collecting isn’t tax per se; what we are doing basically is the contribution that is meant to be paid by every commercial transport operator and traders in the state pay to government. So basically, we refer to it, most times, as the Permit to operate because it comes with a payment option, daily or periodic, for everybody.

“The Governor’s aide further explained that government would collect all revenues by itself and wouldn’t contract it our or use the enforcement for political patronage.

“So, it’s no longer business as usual where somebody is given enforcement job to do because he supported the party or because without him,we can’t access any business.”

He therefore called on Abians to support government’s move, as well as transport and market unions to plead with their members to comply.

Just as Governor Alex Otti had promised that his administration would develop a refined and friendly system of revenue payment model, Okigbo said that has been achieved in the past one month but complained of very low compliance level due to so many factors, which he said, have been explained to the transport unions.

In trying to make revenue payment convenient, government, Okigbo said, came up with payment options of daily, weekly and monthly payments.

“Each of these options has it’s own benefits in the sense that they come with discounts,” he said.

How commercial transport operators would cue into the process, he said, was for each of them to do bio-metric enumeration after which they would be issued with a bio-metric enabled Identity Card and sticker. 

After the bio-metric enumeration, a prospective payer would be onboarded into the payment platform.

“As you are making your enumeration, the amount you indicate to be paying,  the union and location where you operate will also be captured,” he told the the transport unions leaders.

He said the bio-metric system was to guard against any form of manipulation and to ensure that every payment hits government’s single account directly and the payer would be issued with an alert which would serve as evidence of payment.

The Special Adviser further explained that people who comply 100 per cent with the revenue payment would reap benefits, including free medical insurance.

In his contribution, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Dr. George. Chidozie, also a member of AHARET, explained that the meeting “was to let all who are involved in revenue generation and collection to know that government now have a unified and harmonised platform and a taskforce set aside to ensure that revenues are no longer diverted into private pockets but paid into government single account. This process makes it possible to have all monies paid into the account.

“We specifically called  the transporters today because their members have refused to comply with the directive to pay because they claimed that.the Governor hasn’t made it open.”They still have this issue of the Governor hasn’t made it open that revenue collection has began. All these we want to bring to  their knowledge that the Governor has. declared it open. Going forward,  we want to encourage the public, be it the market. unions, the transport sector,  to ensure that they comply and start paying their revenues.

Chidozie said the taskforce has been trained not to harass anyone in the course of discharging their duties.

Expressing his views on the meeting, Acting Chairman of Abia State Board of Internal Revenue, Peacebe Ukaegbu, said he was optimistic that the transporters would comply given their previous favourable disposition and having been enlightened on the new revenue regime.

Chairmen of the Unions who graced the meeting, including  Chief Balogu (RTEAN), Chief Paulinus Okoye (Okada Riders Union), Chisom Offor (Cooperative Union), Chief Ukaummunna (SATOA), Nwankpa Christian Mark (Aba Township Bus) and Comrade Ogbonnaya Emmanuel, in their separate responses, pledged to identify with the government and get their members to comply to boost the state’s revenue to enable government to fix dilapidated roads to enhance operations of motorists.