‘Ogun loses N5bn monthly to illegal revenue collectors’

By Peter Moses

Abeokuta

Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday disclosed that the government “loses between N3 billion and N5 billion to illegal revenue collectors and points across the state.
Amosun made the disclosure yesterday while flagging off a policy to eradicate multiplicity in haulage revenue collection held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
He said it was worrisome that the state had lost a lot of revenue that should accrue to it to some unscrupulous elements who had printed their own tickets/stickers and issuing them unsuspecting haulage operators and traders on the roads.
The governor noted that with the commencement of the harmonisation of the haulage revenue collection, saying a task force had been established to arrest any illegal toll collectors and such suspects would be prosecuted in law courts.
Amosun said with the harmonisation policy the process and procedure of collecting haulage revenue would be streamlined and it would adequately address the lapses and challenges inherent in the unconventional methods.
The governor said the new policy would not only block leakages but it would also safeguard the taxpayers from losing their hard-earned money to “unbridled illegal toll collectors,” affirming that the “policy puts a total end all illegal toll points across the state.”
“The new policy document will put in place several measures including issuance of coded-pre numbered tickets to be paid for upfront by tax consultants and collectors less commission to government coffers.
“There will also be printed security and uniform tickets and stickers for payers, and setting up of formidable taskforce to monitor the process and toll points for results.
“There will be provision of sign posts at approved toll points and control posts,” he said.
Amosun said the 2018 budget which was largely appropriated for capital expenditure was an indication that his administration was development-oriented, and promised to complete all ongoing projects across the state.
The Commissioner for Finance, Adewale Oshinowo, in his remarks, said prior to the harmonisation of haulage revenue policy, “collection from that stream of revenue was haphazardly collected, thereby leading to loss of huge revenue to the state.”
Oshinowo said to put an end to the crude method of haulage revenue collection, “a technical committee comprising the officials of the Ministries of Finance, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Forestry and Environment was set up, and they fashioned out the modern way of collecting the revenue.”

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