By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger State has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and help the state recover about N15 billion that was mistakenly paid into federal government coffers in the past few years.
The money is part of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through appropriate tax remittance by public and private workers but wrongfully paid into the federal government coffers, Bello said, adding that recoverying the money will help the state in meeting a number of financial obligations.
Sani-Bello, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Jibrin Baba Ndace, expressed regrets that Niger State was losing approximately N15 billion yearly due to wrongful tax remittance to the federal government.
Niger State was generating about N400 million as IGR monthly from close to 95, 000 civil servants working in government boards and parastatals and as well, corporate organisations in Abuja, while they reside in the state but consciously or unconsciously paying taxes to the FCT.
The statement further hinted that, Governor Bello led some members of his cabinet to pay courtesy visit to the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja to formerly make a case for the recovery of the money.
“We cannot pretend that losing a whooping N15 billion to the federal government is affecting the state especially in areas like Suleja and Tarfa where we have acute infrastructural deficits. Most residents of Suleja and its environs work in Abuja.
“We have carried out enumeration and it’s clear that a lot of taxes due for Niger state were being paid by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to the FCT instead of Niger state government”.
Sani-Bello therefore appealed to President Buhari through the Minister of Finance to ensure that the taxes deducted from salaries of private and federal civil servants residence in any part of Niger state were paid back to the state to enable it meet financial obligations.