ON ADDRESSING MULTIPLE TAXATION AND LEVIES IN WARRI, ENVIRONS AND OTHER PARTS OF DELTA STATE

Zik Gbemre

Recently, Chairmen of Tax Boards across the Federation met in the oil city of Warri, Delta State and resolved to find ways of ending multiple taxation and levies which they said have become burdens on the people. To say that Nigerians, especially the common masses, have greatly suffered in the hands of relevant ‘real and fake’ tax/levy collectors in the country is to put it mildly. The situation is even far worse in urban cities of Delta State, where every dick and harry are using every means necessary to exploit the poor populace in Warri and environs for instance.

For quite some time now, the payment of frivolous levies unilaterally introduced in Delta State, especially in Warri and environs, is daily becoming unbearable and a serious source of concern that urgently needs to be addressed. The existing Internal Revenue Board and institutions and structures that stand as Local Government Councils in Delta State, through the umbrella of the Delta State Government Agencies. Ministries as well as youths (often referred to as ‘Agberos’), impose all manners of levies on residents, business owners, motorists and others in Delta State on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. All they know how to do is to go about taxing the poor masses that are trying to make ends meet, for their private pockets.

For instance, those of the Delta State Internal Revenue Board have been known to coerce and use all manner of threats to exploit and extort money from business owners, especially ‘one-man business enterprises’ trying to make a living. These set of private business owners, despite paying their ‘Personal Income Taxes’, they are still exploited and coerced by those of the Delta State Internal Revenue to cough out outrageous sums in the name of tax and levies. The members and staff of the Delta State Internal Revenue Board are known for issuing taxes to business owners without properly analyzing and assessing the gross incomes of such businesses What they usually do is to issue exorbitant tax figures to one-man business enterprises for instance (which they know very well they cannot pay), and by so doing, they instill fear in the hearts of such private business owners, and ultimately create room for such private business enterprises to sort/bribe or give them kick-backs for the Revenue office to write-off or forgo them paying such taxes. Imagine a situation where one is asked by the Internal Revenue Board to pay a tax of N2million, whereas the person’s business gross profit is not even up to that. You are then subtly threatened to pay such tax or put your business at risk. This automatically places the business owner in a tight corner; where you are then asked by the official of the Revenue Board concerned to part away with half or three quarter of the initial tax figure issued and have the rest written off.  That is the observed practice in Delta State Internal Revenue Board; hence, their pockets are usually well-fed with extorted tax money.

When you look around and see the kind of exotic cars and modern houses owned and used by most of the members and staff of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, one is forced to wonder if it is their monthly salary that they use to live so lavishly.  Obviously not! The logical explanation to this is that they enrich themselves with all manners of fraudulent taxation of the public. And at the end of the day, internally generated revenue through taxation, are never accounted for or used to better the lives of Deltans by providing necessary public utilities and social amenities.

The situation is getting so bad that private investors/companies and prospective entrepreneurs are shying away from the State. Almost everywhere in Delta State, especially in Warri, Effurun, Ekpan, Ovwian, Orhuwhorun, Ugboroke, Patani, Sapele, Ughelli, etc, Deltans and Nigerians in Delta State are frequently being harassed and exploited with one tax/levy or the other by these off shoot of Delta State Local Government Councils and their ‘tentacles’.

Some of such outrageous levies for which the people in the stated areas of Delta State are being regularly robbed include; off loading and loading charges, Building Permit, Health Approval Permit, Community Development levy, pick-up and bus stickers, car radio stickers, commercial vehicle stickers, extended tarpaulin levies, hawkers permit/levies, keke (tricycle) operation levies, fire extinguisher fees for Fire Safety Certificate, Private business premises levies, tenement rates/levies etc. Then there is the gaseous emission/environmental pollution and affluent fees/charges perpetuated by the Delta State Environmental Protection Agency (DELSEPA), that is bent on emphasizing the liability of “all” companies (including small-scale business/companies whose businesses have nothing to do with gaseous emission or effluent) operating in Delta State to pay such levies, and so many other levies/charges too numerous to mention.

This system that has been observed running for years and encouraged by the ‘tentacles’ of the State government. The most disturbing part of all this is that these state and local government ‘tentacles’ that are collecting these obnoxious levies used all sorts of cooked-up/fabricated and dugged-up laws/decrees/Acts/Provisions (most of which urgently need to be repealed and thrown-away by the Delta State House of Assembly and the Delta State government), to extort and demand these levies from the poor unsuspecting masses. In other words, they hide under such draconian outdated laws that are begging to be thrown-away, while they fabricate other new ones, to make the whole illegal extortion appear authentic and normal.

A thorough look at all the so called taxes/levies/charges, we would realize they do not in any way justify why they are being demanded in the first place. The Local Government Councils in Delta State have been non-existence for years until recently, when the Local Government Councils election was held on Saturday October 25, 2014. Before now however, the Local Government Council Caretaker Committees was put in place by the Delta State government, but they are practically not in existence in the development of the various councils of the State. Their presence is not felt by the people. The only thing that local government councils are good at in Delta State is to extort money from the public with all manners of levies/charges. That is the only thing they are remembered for. What then are they doing with all the levies/charges so collected from the public?

Take for instance, the charges being demanded by DELSEPA as described above. Despite the levies exploited, the major cities in Delta State are nothing to write home about when it comes to waste management and protection/cleanliness of the environment. A foreigner who is touring the streets of Warri for the first time might suddenly get sick due to the despicable sight of both liquid and solid wastes littered around open public places and major streets/roads including express highways. One is forced to wonder if there actually exists a well-organized Agency in–charge of waste management disposal in the State. What therefore, is the justification for the payment of effluent discharge levies or what have you?

Small-scale businesses are not left out. A caterer who runs a small restaurant/bar for instance is expected to pay as much as N50, 000 per year some few years back. And so do other agencies of Local Government Councils engage in such extortions. A hawker needs to pay for hawking permit. Imagine a hawker making a living on his petty trading being forced to cough out an outrageous N1, 000 hawking permit or more, whereas his/her entire items of trade do not add up to the amount being demanded in the first place. People who run small businesses/stores are constantly harassed because of one levy/charge or the other. It is shameful that in a society where there is high level of unemployment, those who are struggling on their own to make ends meets, are taxed and levied arbitrary.

It is absolutely wrong and an extortion of the highest order to have Local Government Councils and their ‘extensions’ to demand taxes/levies/charges for public services they have not been able to provide. In the UK and other advanced countries around the world, Local Government Councils and their activities are daily felt by the people. As a matter of fact, these Councils are much more ‘active’ than the Provinces or State government. They virtually take charge of providing everyday-to-day activities that ensure the ‘smooth-running’ of the entire Provinces. From the provision of well-engineered Septic tanks with central locations for sewage disposals/ waste management and recycling, to road and street lights maintenance. Even the provision of accommodation for low-income earners and those that are unemployed, provision of public toilets and their maintenance, daily environmental clean-up, etc. all these public  services and more are provided and maintained by local councils in advanced countries. With this, citizens will not hesitate to pay their taxes or whatever levies charged by the Council authorities.

For instance, the streets of Manchester are daily swept and washed with trucks/vans specially constructed for such purposes. You will hardly see any sand or dirt on the streets of London. Even the floors of their public open markets are kept very clean like residential compounds. The councils also provide Metro “Free” Town-bus Services that can take anyone from one point of the city to another on a daily basis, and for every 10 minutes at every bus stop. Such free buses are interconnected to every place no matter how small or interior the village would be. From the Rail Station to places like John William Street, the Market place, Kingsgate, Queen Street, Lord Street, Kirkgate, also in the Yorkshire councils in the cities and Towns and so on and so forth. Everywhere is linked to the free bus services that are provided by the Councils. Also provided by the Councils are pipe borne water, construction of roads, underground sewage systems that are constructed in such a way that one can hardly see or tell of their existence, etc.

All these public utilities/services are provided and maintained by local councils in the UK. This makes the collection of levies/grants/charges/taxes from the public justified as means to generate internal revenue. Also, locals in the UK will not hesitate to pay for whatever levies/charges/taxes/licenses demanded of them by the local Councils because they see with their eyes and enjoy the usage of what the money are being used for. Also, there is a well-established system in place that allows for checks and balances and accountability of the Authorities in the local councils of the UK. The tenure of a Mayor in the UK is just one year. And in every three months of that one year, ‘Challenge Sessions’ are held in their Town Halls where the locals are given the opportunity to question the activities of the Mayor, who also is given the chance to account for, and defend what the council funds are used for within a given period. How come we cannot have such practices in Nigeria and in Delta State in particular? How come this level of government in Nigeria is practically non-existence? How come the local government councils are adjudged to be one of the most corrupt levels of government in the country with Delta State as a good example?

The fact that there are outdated laws/edicts/decrees (most of which were cooked-up to suit their needs), used by the local councils in Delta State and extended functionaries, does not justify the continuous exploitation of the general masses in the name of generating internal revenue for developmental objectives.

The collection and extortion of taxes/levies/charges from the general public, without commensurate utilities and public necessities that would account for and justify such collections/extortions, is absolutely fraudulent, wicked, mindless and stealing from the people. And this has to stop! Why collect taxes/levies/charges for public services that cannot be provided and accounted for? In the UK and America people see the reasons why they have to pay taxes/levies/grants/charges to their Councils without being asked or forced to do so.

But in our own case in Nigeria, it is a different ball game, and the situation is worst in Delta State. No responsible state government will allow and encourage such extortions/exploitations of its populace by the State Councils off shoots or any outlets of the government. No proactive State House of Assembly will sit down and watch its fellow citizens who supposedly elected them into office, be exploited with all manners of frivolous taxes and levies by the State Local Councils. Unfortunately, that is the situation in Delta State.

We ask that the Delta State government and the lawmakers in the Delta State House of Assembly should not allow this level of illegality being perpetuated by the tentacles who are standing as local government councils and the Internal Revenue Board in the State to continue with this practice. It is high time we started emulating what is going on in other parts of the developed world. The Delta State lawmakers should abrogate these laws to suit the ‘realities’ facing Deltans and Nigerians in the State on daily basis at the moment. People should not be taxed and at the same time forced to continue paying for public services that cannot be accounted for. It is after necessary public utilities and services are provided that such taxes/levies/charges can be justified. At the moment, there is need for a well-grounded system of accountability and transparency. Nobody will like to pay taxes/levies unaccounted for or not used to better their living conditions.