Abia govt denies overtaxing residents
•Pensioners laud Otti over payment of gratuity arrears
From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Abia State Government has vehemently denied the allegation that it is overtaxing residents of the state.
Reacting to a recent accusation by a legal practitioner, Emperor Gabriel Ogbonna, the Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, urged Ogbonna to provide evidence that could justify his allegation.
“It has been over 48 hours since I challenged my brother and friend, Empero Gabriel Ogbonna, to publish evidence of demand notices he has received or receipts of payments he has made since this government assumed office. He is yet to respond to the challenge.
“Let me, at this point, extend the challenge to others who believe that this government is overtaxing Abians. Please, publish evidence of the tax your house or office has paid, including ASEPA fees, between 2023 and today. Let evidence end this argument.
“Before the government of Dr. Alex Otti came on board, people’s houses and shops were “painted” with all kinds of demand notices ranging from Property Rate, Infrastructure Levy, Business Premises Permit, Business Licence, Operational Permit, Operational Licence, ASEPA fee, Property and Tenement Rate, House Fitness Permit, Excavation Permit, and many other illegal levies”.
Ekeoma said in the past, while ASEPA had multiple collection agents and offices in all the zones and streets in Aba and Umuahia, heaps of refuse still littered the streets, as illegal agents harassed innocent residents. He said the era of impunity and negligence in the state has gone, and sanity has been restored, stressing that
the present government has gotten rid of most of the illegal levies.
“The multiple revenue agents that littered our neighbourhoods have disappeared. The harassment, intimidation, and humiliation from revenue agents that were common practice in our homes, markets, schools, churches, and streets have disappeared.
Ekeoma, however, said it did not mean there are no isolated cases of fraudsters trying to defraud residents with fake demand notices, but that the government has made that difficult, if not impossible, by insisting that all payments should go to known government revenue accounts.
He said insofar as the government is responsible and open to listening to genuine concerns from members of the public, it will not succumb to any attempt aimed at blackmailing it to abandon its legitimate demands.
Meanwhile, a group of pensioners in Abia, the Concerned Abia State Pensioners (CAP), have commended Governor Alex Otti for commencing the payment of gratuity arrears owed pensioners by previous administrations in the state.
The group, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Elder John A. Kalu, and the Coordinator, Chief Emeka Okezie, expressed appreciation to Governor Otti for fulfilling his promise to defray the outstanding gratuity, beginning with pensioners whose entitlements accrued between 2001 and 2010.
The concerned pensioners described the development as a demonstration of the governor’s commitment to improving the welfare of pensioners and addressing the longstanding backlog of gratuity payments in the state.
The group also expressed happiness over the governor’s reassurance that the government would proceed with the payment of gratuity owed from 2011 to date after the current phase.
They commended the governor for his commitment to ensuring that the backlog of gratuity would not recur in the state, noting that the administration had put measures in place to sustain the payment of gratuity as and when due.
In a related development, another pensioners’ group in the state, APF, has objected to a publication that made the rounds last week, which stated that Abia pensioners rejected the 2031 timeline for gratuity payment and credited to the steering committee of the pensioners’ group.
In a press statement signed by Okey Kanu and Emmanuel Onyenyiri, coordinator and secretary, respectively, the group denied authorising anybody to issue any statement on its behalf.
APF said it was misinformation to allege that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu paid N32 billion gratuity in 2007 as alleged in the publication, stressing that as at that date, Ikpeazu was not in office.
“Assuming, without conceding that such payment was made, the arrears of pension and gratuity of pensioners in Abia State would not be as high as was inherited by the present administration.
“The Forum is aware that it was former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State that used the said amount in 2007 to clear the retirement benefits of his pensioners.
While urging the public to disregard the said fictitious and misinformed publication; the Forum said it will, at the appropriate time, issue a statement on the commencement of payment of gratuity to Batch 2001-2010 pensioners, its information and observations on the exercise, the 2031 timeline for payment of gratuity and on sundry issues.
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