Business
Enugu seals 13 Hotels, private school for tax evasion (see hotel list)
Enugu State Government on Friday December 1, 2023, sealed up 13 hotels and one private school for non-compliance with their tax obligations and liabilities.
The hotels sealed include Top 10 Hotel, The Gate Luxury Apartment, Pentagon, Ekulu Green Guest House, Bontera Suite, Richmond Hill Suite and Maybach Hotel.
Others are ; La Virgin Suites & Residence, Stellacynthia Hotel & Suite, Octopus Hotel Ltd, D-Kings Planet, Mary Suite, Torrequebrada hotel,and Kesandra Hotel as well as a private school Divine Comprehensive Secondary School.
The action followed an order by the high court of Enugu State issued on Wednesday November 29 2023 by His Lordships Honourable Justice K. I Okpe-Judge.
The Enugu State Government, through Enugu State Internal Revenue Service approached the Court seeking an Order distraining the Respondent for failure to pay their staff PAYE tax, Development levy and Companies Withholding tax due to the state government for the period of 2015 to 2020 for some and 2018 to 2021 for others.
The Enugu Internal Revenue Service also request an Order authorizing it to recover the tax due from sealing the premises of the Respondent and sale of such goods distrained upon failure of the Respondent to pay the tax due and its costs and charges, incidental to the distress which was granted by court.
It was on this strength that the enforcement team of the revenue agency stormed the various defaulting hotels and school at early hours of Friday to seal them for tax evasion.
Addressing Journalists shortly after the exercise, Chairman of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, Ekene Nnamani said after a tax audit it was discovered that several institutions have not been meeting their tax obligations for the past seven years.
Mr Nnamani disclosed demand notices, warning letters as well as intention to sue have been served on the defaulting organisations but they failed to comply.
He said government will immediately unsealed their businesses after they show commitment of their readiness to meet their tax obligations and obey relevant tax laws of the state.
He noted that government cannot carry out any development project if citizens and businesses do not pay their taxes adding that sealing of business p
“We started our enforcement on tax payment and tax compliance this morning because several institutions in the state do not pay their tax as it’s supposed to be”.
“We did what we call tax audit on these institutions. We serve them demand notice. We serve them warning letter. We even serve them intention to sue them to court and when those things failed, we instituted a case against them in our courts, and after court have head our applications, they rejected some asking us to go and do more work on them, and then granted us an order for 16 corporate entities who have failed to comply with the tax laws”.. “And today, we started enforcement to seal those companies and demand immediate compliance to our tax liability.
“You know that sometimes people believe they cannot take the tax authorities serious. They believe sometimes they can get their way out. But this time around we are very much committed. We are proactive and we are diligent in what we are doing”.
“So this is not time for us to begin to say I know this person, I don’t know this person. Let them go and pay their tax and that is what we are doing currently. So our intention is not actually to destroy businesses, but to announce to the whole people of Enugu that we are not joking with our taxes. Pay your taxes”.
“For the companies we seal today. We are ready to unseal them immediately, if they commit to the tax liability and the payment of these tax liabilities. We don’t have any intention to disrupt their businesses because businesses is our life. Without businesses, the state cannot grow. But we just need to do that to send a signal. What we are doing currently is, bridging the knowledge gap, because some of these entities are unable sic…
“You know and Igbo man believes that when he has money, he has every knowledge. But a lot of events have proven that those who have the money do not have every knowledge. “So when you have a business, you should have professionals who run your business, who advise you the right way. Sometimes they don’t actually pay this tax. Simply because they have a knowledge gap.
“So, we’ll be bridging the knowledge gap from time to time. We’ll be also be engaging stakeholders in different industries in the state, having a town hall meeting with them, ensuring that if you fail to pay your tax, it is because deliberately you fail to pay not because you don’t know what to do. Where you think you don’t have the professionals that will help you compute your tax, we have people here in the board. We can dedicate one or two persons to support you, free of charge to ensure that you pay the right tax”.
He said sealing of business premises is the standard practice globally.
“ If you fail to seal companies, nobody will take you serious. Even in Lagos. last two weeks, Lagos sealed over 100 Companies in Lagos and they continue to seal on daily basis. It has not allowed businesses to leave Lagos. In Port Harcourt, the same thing. Enugu is also a big city. It will not affect our business but we don’t have intention to continue to disrupt their businesses.
“We are only calling their attention to come and comply with our tax laws. That is it. If they comply now we are unsealing it immediately. So that their business will continue to run uninterrupted.
Findings by our correspondent showed that some filling stations now sell petrol below N860 per litre, while Dangote partners, such as MRS, Heyden, and others, sell at N865 or N875 in Lagos and Ogun States.
A filling station named SGR in Ogun State reduced its price to N847 per litre as of Tuesday. Marketers confirmed to The PUNCH that most importers have reduced their ex-depot petrol prices below that of the Dangote refinery.
As of Tuesday, it was learnt that Dangote refinery was selling petrol at N820 per litre while some depots sold the product at N815 per litre. According to Petroleumprice.ng, Aiteo, Menj and others put their prices at N815/litre as of Tuesday.
Our correspondent learnt that the importers were making efforts to remain in business through competitive pricing. Many had previously complained of recording losses when the 650,000-barrels-per-day capacity Dangote refinery began implementing constant price cuts earlier this year.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed the ongoing downward price review by the importers.
“Depot owners are dropping their petrol prices. Some of them are selling N815, some are selling N817, while Dangote is selling N820. NNPC is still selling at N825; it has not dropped its prices yet,” Ukadike disclosed.
He described this as the beauty of market liberalisation, saying President Bola Tinubu should not heed calls to ban fuel importation.
“This is the beauty of the liberalisation of the market. That is why we opined that the President should not ban anybody from importing petroleum products. Nobody should be stopped from bringing in petroleum products. That is the beauty of opening up the market. Implementation and local refining will checkmate unfair pricing. As an indigenous country, you must refine to ensure that you have the best price,” Ukadike said.
On claims that toxic and substandard fuels are being imported into the country, the IPMAN spokesman said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is in place to check substandard fuels.
To remain viable, he urged governments across Africa to take deliberate steps as the United States, Canada, and the European Union have done to protect domestic producers from what he called unfair competition.
Dangote did not mince words when he said that the Nigeria First policy announced by Tinubu should apply to the petroleum products sector. “The Nigeria First policy announced by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, should apply to the petroleum product sector and all other sectors,” he stated.
This request by Dangote seeks to place a ban on the importation of petrol, diesel, and other products being produced locally. He argued that local refiners were finding it difficult to sell their products because of what he called dumping. The billionaire businessman alleged that importers were dumping toxic fuel that would never be allowed in Europe.
“And to make matters worse, we are now facing increased dumping of cheap, often toxic petroleum products, some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America,” he said.
Dangote mentioned that some importers bring subsidised fuel or crude oil from Russia into Nigeria. This, he said, affects local pricing, forcing refiners to lower their prices below production cost.
“Due to the price caps on the Russian petroleum products, discounted petroleum products produced in Russia or with discounted Russian crude find their way to Africa, severely undercutting our local production, which is based on full crude pricing. This has created an unlevel playing field in most African countries. Petrol and diesel are sold for about a dollar net of taxes.
“In Nigeria, due to this unfair competition, this price is just about 60 cents, even cheaper than Saudi Arabia, which produces and refines its own oil. This is due to the fact that we are having too much dumping. To remain viable, we urge the governments across Africa to take deliberate steps as the United States, Canada, and the European Union have done to protect domestic producers from unfair competition,” he stated at a recent event organised by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja.
However, marketers disagreed with Dangote, urging the Federal Government not to consider adding petroleum products to the list of items banned from importation under the ‘Nigeria First’ policy.
… Govt set to develop tourist sites
… Work starts on Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Awgu Games Village in earnest
The Enugu Air, CNG Mass Transit Programme, and the ultramodern transport terminals all built from scratch by the Governor Peter Administration are to be launched for operation before the second anniversary of the government.
The government has also approved the development of the state’s tourism industry, while total transformation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and Awgu Games Village will start in June to get them ready for the National Sports Festival to be hosted by the state in 2026.
These were made known by the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Obi Ozor; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dame Ugochi Madueke; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Gerald Otiji; and Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Barr. Lloyd Ekweremadu after the State Executive Council meeting at the Government House, Enugu, at the weekend.
Briefing Government House Correspondents, Ozor said, “We are starting off with the initial three aircraft and two of the aircraft are already on ground. The third one will be on ground by the end of this month. We are hoping to start the commercial operations before the second year anniversary of this administration.
“You have also seen buses for the mass transit programme across the state. 50 of them are already parked at Okpara Square, and an additional 50 will be joining that fleet in the next few weeks. The 100 of them will be going into commercial operations before the end of this month, which is the second year anniversary.
“Also, the bus terminals, two at Holy Ghost, one each at Gariki, Abakpa and Nsukka, will also be commissioned and go into commercial operations before the 29th of May, this year.”
He added that the government planned to bring in the electric and CNG automotive manufacturing plant into Enugu as well as launch in the next 150 days the Enugu Smart Transport Programme, which would see to the injection of over 2,000 electric vehicles.
Also briefing newsmen, Dame Madueke said funds would be invested in the tourism industry in phases.
“We are going to have it in phases. For the first phase, we are having Awhum Waterfall, Nsude Pyramid where we are going to have the first canopy walkway in the South East. It measures about 600 metres, which will actually be the longest in Nigeria.
“We also have Ngwo Pine Forest where we are having the first zipline in Nigeria. The zipline will measure about 300 metres. In the same Ngwo, we will have a big rotunda and a smaller rotunda. We have the Cross of Hope to be located at Okpatu. The Cross of Hope will be sitting 580 metres above sea level and the cross itself will measure about 50 metres, making it a total of about 630 metres above sea level. The cross will have about 15 floors with a lift.
“At Awhum Waterfalls, we are going to have another canopy walkway and a boardwalk to preserve the ecosystem.
“We equally have the Akwuke/Atakkwu Waterpark and Ovu Lake Golf and Resort at Akpawfu,” she stated.
She explained that all the tourist sites would have experience centres, food courts and renewable energy, adding that tour buses would soon arrive to ensure ease of movement of tourists.
Ahead of the 23rd edition of the National Sports Festival, Enugu 2026, Barr. Ekweremadu said the State Executive Council had equally directed the commencement of work both at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and Awgu Games Village not later than June.
“We also briefed the council on the progress made in establishing a Lab for Animation for young people in Enugu State, which His Excellency will be commissioning soon. The lab is ready.
“We are similarly working towards empowering over 2,100 young people across the state, who were trained around December last year. This empowerment will be coming up on the 12th of August, being the International Youth Day’” Ekweremadu concluded.
By Sabastine Gabriel
The Enugu State House of Assembly has taken steps to address the issue of dropped calls and customer dissatisfaction with telecom operators in the state.
During a plenary session on Tuesday, member representing Igbo-Eze South Constituency, Hon. Harrison Ogara raised concerns over the impact of poor telecom services, which he believes are financially harming consumers who pay for unreliable services.
Ogara highlighted that with over 219 million Nigerians subscribing to telecom services, the residents of Enugu State have been particularly affected by the erratic performance of these providers, leading to significant financial losses.
He proposed that the telecom operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9 Mobile be summoned to provide explanations on how they plan to reimburse customers affected by dropped calls.
In addition to refunds, Ogara requested that the telecom companies present accurate subscriber data and evidence of their tax compliance with the Enugu State Government.
He urged the establishment of a committee that includes state officials to investigate the financial losses incurred by residents due to telecom inefficiencies, making the findings public and ensuring that refunds are issued where due.
“Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I rise draw your attention to the current epileptic services of the telecoms services providers in Enugu State which has resulted to huge loss of funds by our citizens. Not minding being a late entrant in the global system for mobile (GSM) market, Nigeria has obviously out paced many countries across when we take into consideration the market size and telephone usage.
“It is quite absurd and preposterous that even with the rapid growth of the sector and it’s consequential growth in consumer size, users of telecom services in Enugu State have continued to groan under the scorching pressure of abysmal performance in services,” he lamented.
Other assembly members echoed Ogara’s motion, expressing frustration over the operators’ poor service and high tariffs, comparing the situation to problematic billing practices seen in other utility sectors.
The member representing Nsukka West, Hon. Malachy Onyechi likened the telecome operators to EEDC that give consumers exorbitant estimated billing without rendering commensurate services.
On his part, while supporting the motion, Hon. Clifford One, representing Igbo-Eze North 2, said that the activities of telecom operators are like the banking services where one is debited yet transaction does not go through.
Earlier the House of Assembly passed into law the Enugu State Land Use Charge Second Amendment, House Bill 6, 2025 presented by Hon. Iloabuchi Aniagu, member representing Nkanu West Constituency into law.
To give room for accelerated passage of the bill, the Enugu State House of Assembly suspended Order 14, Rule 102 sub section 1 of the House Standing Order.
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