By Chisom Okpala :
Illegal revenue collectors operating across the state have been warned to desist from the act of diverting government money into their private purses or face the full wrath of the law.
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo gave the warning when he visited some of the areas where there are surge in illegal revenue collection in the state.
This places include Unizik Junction, Awka, Bridge Head Onitsha, among others.
The governor represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim said that the outing was in line with the vision of clearing touts off the street and to reorganize the state revenue collection as it is done in a civilized societies.
“There is no room for touting in the state, revenues must be duly collected by appropriate bodies and on our part as government, we are blocking all the leakages in revenue collection,” he noted.
The governor Soludo revealed that his mission of making Anambra a liveable mega city can be achieved when residents in the state pay their taxes and as well abide by t he laws guiding the state.
The visit extended to the former Road Safety Park, Onitsha, where vehicles illegally confiscated by non state actors were released to owners and money ranging from twenty thousand to fifty thousand naira were refunded to owners who had already paid to the unapproved team.
The Chairman Anambra State Revenue Service (AIRs), Mr. Richard Madiebo assured of the readiness to Agency in ensuring that government policy on taxation is fully implemented saying that digital revolution on taxation is ongoing in the state.
“We are remunerating, we are collecting and we are keeping records for future references” , he said.
Mr. Uzochukwu Eze and Mr. Nnamdi Ovu who were among some of the owners of the illegally confiscated vehicles, thanked the state government for intervening on their behalf. They urged the government to punish anybody who is illegally taking money from the people and spoiling the name of the government.
The Managing Director, Anambra State Traffic Management Agency (ATMA), Mr. Emeka Okonkwo, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Felix Odimegwu, Special Adviser on Security, Retired Air Vice Marshal Ben Chiobi, among others joined in the visit.
