May 08, (THEWILL) – The Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN), Ebonyi State Branch, on Monday, shut down all its stations in the State over what it described as excessive taxation and fines imposed on it by the State Board of Internal Revenue Office (IGR).
Residents of Abakaliki were shocked by the shutdown as motorists and commuters observed a hike in the transport fare within and outside the state capital.
Commercial motorcyclists, Tricycle operators, and commercial buses plying within and outside the state capital increased their services by 100%.
The shutdown, which created panic and apprehension, according to the State Chairman of the Association, Mr. Silas Njaka, was necessitated following a suit filed against some members of the union by the Board.
Mr. Njaka said that trouble started when the leadership of the Board of Internal Revenue wrote the Association, requesting its members to commence the payment of Pay As You Earn Income Tax, which was resisted while others complied.
The Union Chairman expressed regret that while other States in the South East gave a waiver for the payment of the income tax for its members, “the Ebonyi State Government imposed the tax on us despite several agitations.”
He said: “Our members in Enugu, Abia, Imo, and Anambra States do not pay the Pay as you Earn Income Tax, so why must Ebonyi’s case be different? Moreso, we don’t have permanent staff, someone you employ today may decide to resign tomorrow, yet they expect us to file their names annually to the board.
“It is also not constitutional to pay the tax to those earning below N30,000 and most of the workers in our payroll earn less than N30,000. Just recently, the Board fined our members N500,000 for noncompliance with the payment and thereafter, dragged us to the State High Court in Abakaliki.
He noted that members of the union in solidarity shut down all the stations in the State to enable them to appear in court to witness the court proceedings.
“The matter came up today for hearing and was adjourned till next week Monday. We have resolved to shut down the stations across the State any day we are appearing in court for the matter.
“Our task force team from Enugu will also be in the State every appearance date to ensure that all the stations in the State remain shut pending the determination of the matter,” he said.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
