Anambra State Government on Friday sealed branches of Unity Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank, GTB, across the state over an alleged debt owed the state in arrears.
The exercise was carried out by an enforcement team from Anambra State Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, with support from security agencies in parts of Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi.
Also sealed off during the exercise were privately owned business premises, companies and offices.
Speaking after the enforcement activity, the Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, Dr David Nzekwu said the AIRS as a responsible organization sealed off the businesses in line with court orders it secured.
He explained that the sealing of GTB was based on a judgement they obtained with respect to remittance of stamp duties that the bank collected from individuals in Anambra State which were not remitted to the state government. In the case of Unity Bank, Nzekwu revealed that it was sealed off with respect to Pay As You Earn, PAYE remittances which were outstanding from 2015 to 2016.
The Anambra Tax boss said in the case of the GTB, they were not allowed access to the books on stamp duties paid to enable them to conduct audits as required.
“We then applied Best of Judgement, BoJ assessment, by extrapolating figures that are out there in the media to estimate N102.9 billion to be the outstanding stamp duties payment that would have been paid to the state,” he said.
Nzekwu also revealed that in the case of Unity bank, they owe the state N54.6 billion with respect to PAYE remittances from 2015 to 2016.
“We, therefore, went to court following due process and based on the orders of the court, we proceeded to seal them off,” he said.
Nzekwu who noted that the challenge of low revenue payment has become a major issue in the state revealed that beyond people that pay PAYE taxes in the state, just about 4000 people pay taxes by way of Direct Assessment tax, where the bulk of the people in the state, who are traders, fall under.
He said; “When you look at levies and other charges in the state, the amount is significantly low.
“When you look at bills distributed in 2021 with demand notices to traders and private business owners in the state, less than one percent of the notices were honoured.
“That is why we are determined to sustain this revenue enforcement while we also join it with continuous enlightenment to see that we change this negative behaviour and get people to begin to understand why they need to pay their taxes.”
According to Nzekwu, Anambra targets about 52 billion naira in internally-generated revenue in 2022 and the agency has deployed the requisite ICT infrastructure with which they intend to address the issue of revenue touts, who have infiltrated the state revenue system.
He maintained that the state does not collect revenue on the road, warning that anyone caught will be dealt with accordingly.
Nzekwu appealed to the people of the state to understand that it is the taxes and levies they pay that government uses to work, and ensure timely payment of the monies.
Meanwhile, customers of the two banks sealed by the state government yesterday expressed their frustration at the hardship caused them by the impasse between the banks and the government.
According to a GTB customer, Chibuzor Okeke, it is appalling that a financial institution that ought to understand the implications of debt should be owing to the government.
He said it is quite commendable that despite the huge debt owed to the state, the state government is still able to provide basic amenities and social services to the people.
“This is to show how irresponsible some of these institutions can be!
“Despite the numerous charges they take from customers, yet they find it difficult to pay what is due to government.
“I want to commend the state government for taking this bold step despite all the intimidations I know they may face, in recovering the money due to the state,” he said.
Another customer, Joseph Akorah, said he was stranded because he had no money at home to feed his family over the weekend.
He called for the quick resolution of the impasse to end the suffering of the customers.
“I really don’t know how my weekend is going to be.
“Maybe I will go and borrow now from people to be able to feed my family.
“Times are hard and even those who have money in the bank do not have enough talk more of this one now that they can’t allow people access to their funds.
“I bet you, those who have the mobile app will immediately transfer their monies to other banks if this issue persists,” he said.
