The Chairman of the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AiRS), Mr. Richard Madiebo, says the revenue windows hitherto operated by individuals in the state remain shut, announcing that Governor Chukwuma Soludo has not lifted the ban he placed on it.
Mr Madiebo who stated this in his office in Awka during a joint Press Conference said that the government was working round the clock to ensure there would be no more touts in Anambra State roads and parks.
‘The people claiming that government has leased some revenue windows to them are liars. There’s no such thing. They are blatant lies because Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has suspended all revenue windows in the interim because of noticeable significant abuses of such windows as people became law onto themselves,’ Madiebo stated.
He maintained that a lot of groups had turned themselves into enforcement teams, enforcing orders that were not from government.
He said the enforcement architecture of government had been put in place and that the enforcement teams sanctioned by government to collect revenues were Ocha Brigade, ANJET, ARTMA and VIOs for motor vehicles.
The AiRS boss noted that IGR must be remitted into government coffers and not private accounts.
Madiebo in the company of other top government functionaries during the media briefing, reiterated that government had long proscribed all forms of touting in the state but expressed deep concern that there was a resurgence of revenue touts again across the state.
He therefore emphasized that government had not empowered local governments, communities and private individuals to form enforcement teams to start taking money from people, adding that government agents were working assiduously to fish them out.
Contributing to the discussion, the State Commissioner for Transport, Mrs. Patricia Igwebuike, stressed that every commercial bus operator should have been enumerated to enable them to know the exact amount to pay to government every month and that all payments were made digitally without physical cash transaction.
Igwebuike disclosed that the state revenue courts would soon be operational and that government would engage traditional rulers and presidents-general, noting that community leaders had what he termed some sort of baptism they gave to illegal revenue collections across Anambra state.
The Transport Commissioner however maintained that Igwes and PGs must understand that it was the revenue generated that government deployed in building roads and providing other social amenities in their respective communities.
For his part, the Special Adviser on Security, AVM Chiobi, assured that the enforcement team would always be on the ground to enforce compliance, warning that any of the team members who undermined their activity would be severely dealt with.
He appealed to newsmen to always verify their report before publishing.
