The Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS) has accused Bharti Aitel Ltd. (Airtel) and Globacom Nigeria Limited of blackmail over the lingering tax default allegations against the telcos, which led to the recent sealing of their offices in the state.
The agency alleged that Globacom had an unremitted tax liabilities of N300 million while Airtel’s stood at N65 million.
Speaking on the raging face-off between the telecom operators and the revenue agency, the KGIRS’ acting executive chairman, Sule Saliu-Enche, in Lokoja, the state capital, maintained that “no amount of blackmail could stampede the authority to unseal the offices without the payments of the liabilities.
“The liabilities of the two tax defaulting firms covered both corporate and Social Service Contribution Levy from 2017 to 2021”, he added.
The KGIRS’ boss decried the situation where companies would use individuals and other organisations to blackmail the revenue agency into unsealing its business premises without paying the liability.
He expatiated: “Different reports about us have been in the media, but we shall stand our ground until these liabilities are paid.
“Also, various personalities and organisations have approached us to unseal the premises, but like I said, no amount of blackmail can stampede us into unsealing the two offices”, the tax administrator added.
Salihu-Enche explained that the government expected full cooperation from all those doing business in Kogi State to fulfill their fiscal obligations as and when due to the government.
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Tuesday threatened to shut down telecommunications facilities in Kogi State following disputes arising from alleged excessive taxes and levies by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS).
In a statement issued by the Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, and Head, Operations, Gbolahan Awonuga, the telecoms operators ‘group, warned that the disputes would likely to lead to a total communications blackout in the state and parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
The ALTON pointed out that the shutdown of the facilities could be effected because many critical telecommunications sites, belonging to its members, had been closed and sealed up by the state government in an attempt to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection.
It stated: “This action followed an ex-parte court order obtained by the KIRS over unsubstantiated allegations that our members are in default of tax payments to the state government (which is not the truth) and access to these critical telecom sites has been denied.
“As result of these actions by the state government, our members are unable to refuel power generators in these sites, a situation which has led to outage of over 70 sites including hub sites across parts of Kogi State. Now, with likely impact on Nine States surrounding Kogi (namely: Nasarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States. These are states sharing borders with Kogi State), and Abuja the FCT inclusive”, the ALTON warned.
