The Bayelsa State Government has asked the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Tricycle Operators Association in the state to shelve their planned strike action intended for Monday, 9 March, 2020 as government is looking into their grievance.
The State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo made the appeal at a meeting he had with the leadership of both Unions in his office at Government House, Yenagoa.
The Deputy Governor, who noted that it is advisable to see the payment tax as a civic responsibility, said the state government would not encourage multiple taxation, assuring that there must be a unified taxing system cutting across all the local government areas of the state.
He assured the Unions that government will come up with an acceptable tax system in the next two weeks, pointing out that representatives of the Unions, the Chairman of the State Board of Internal Revenue as well as representatives of Yenagoa Local Government Council, the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, Bayelsa State Environmental Sanitation Authority and the State Ministry of Transport will all be in attendance when the issue of the tax system will be discussed.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Board of Internal Revenue, Dr Nimibofa Ayawei said before now there was a Tax Advisory Committee (TAC) put in place by the State Government and headed by the Deputy Governor.
According to Dr. Ayawei, the Committee was responsible for formulating an acceptable tax regime for the various tax payers in the state, pointing out that all revenue-generating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state are represented in the Committee.
Dr Ayawei also informed the gathering that it was the Tax Advisory Committee that came up with the Unified Taxing System, adding that Yenagoa Local Government Council and the Environmental Sanitation Authority however opted to pull out of the Committee with the aim of collecting revenue directly themselves, but appealed to the Deputy Governor to re-instate the Committee to sanitise tax system in the state.
In their separate remarks, the Chairman Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Bipre Ndiomu and his TUC counterpart, Mr Julius Laye commended the Deputy Governor for being proactive in calling for the meeting, pointing out that it is a clear demonstration of the state government’s preparedness to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the masses.
The State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Mr. Eminah Dinyoerinyu and the Chairman of State Tricycle Operators Association, Chief Godwin Adokeme, in their separate comments, noted that their members are presently bombarded with different types of taxes that is making things difficult for them.
According to them, they were paying their taxes through the Unified Taxation System but with the new tax regime, things have changed for the worse, hence the plan for the strike action, pointing out that with the intervention of the Deputy Governor, they are going to impress it on their members to stay action pending the outcome of the meeting with the state government.
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