BENIN CITY – The Executive Chairman, Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Chief Sir Oseni Elamah said the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s led administration in Edo State does not operate a kind of resource control government.
Rather, Elamah said it is “focused generating revenue that would ensure even development across the state, premised on peoples’ participation in result-oriented policy.” Elamah made this known in Benin City yesterday when he played host to the State Tiper Drivers Association led by Michael Ehios.
Chief Elamah who noted that government are at a responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people, besides governance, said that the state government decided to stop the problem of ticketing by various unions in view of eliminating touts in the system.
He stated that the system operated in the past has negatively affected the people, urging the visitors to facilitate the process of obtaining the national consolidated emblem/stickers, an initiative of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) for motorists across the country.
“You are not expected to pay for the emblem, it is free,” stated the EIRS boss.
Asserting that tax is different from levy, he said the EIRS focused on collecting the Personal Income Tax (PITA).
He used the occasion to sensitize the union on the need to register and obtain their Tax Identification Number (TIN), and reiterated that the EIRS does not collect any road tax on the highways, rather. It is at the various tax offices across the state.
According to Elamah, the revenue agency is committed to creating tax friendly environment, and commended the union for bringing its members under one fold for easy assessment.
He also commended the union for its support to the present government in the state.
Spokesman for the union, Apostle David Aigbiremwen commended the EIRS boss for giving the revenue system in the state a face lift.
Aigbiremwen who stated that the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole did not make the mistake of appointing Chief Elamah to oversee the affairs of the EIRS, said “some areas that have been forgotten by past governments you have discovered and the state internal revenue has been optimized.”
He assured that the tiper drivers union would continue to support the present administration in its quest to bringing development to the doorsteps of the people.
Also, Comrade Austin Uhunmwangho, expressed concern over the level of extortion from the union members under different guise, according to him was tarnishing the good image of the state government.
Uhunmwangho said the union is now satisfied with Chief Elamah’s explanation of government’s position on the revenue collected on the highways.
“We now know that those collecting money from our drivers in the name of government agents are not really sent by government,” he said.