The Niger State Governor, Mr. Abubakar Bello says the state is losing over N15bn annually to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) due to wrongful tax remittance system operated by the Ministry of Finance. The Governor stated this on Monday in Abuja when he paid a visit to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun. Governor Bello who was accompanied by his Commissioner of Finance among others lamented that the development was adversely affecting the state's internally generated revenue.
He disclosed that the state was currently generating N400m monthly.
Bello appealed to the Minister to remit IGR deducted from salaries of civil servants staying in Niger state to the state.
“...in line with our target to increase IGR and provide better services, we have been reviewing the tax collection of Niger. Our findings indicate that thousands of those working in the FCT actually reside in Niger State, in areas such as Suleja and parts of Bwari, which borders FCT.
“However, taxes deducted from the salaries were being remitted to FCT on a consistent basis. This had been the case over many years and related to both civil servants and workers engaged by the private sector.
“From our records, the number of people affected were up to 95,000 and the amount being lost monthly by Niger was over N1.3 billion which was over N15 billion every year.
Speaking, Mrs. Adeosun admitted that wrongful remittance was still a problem in the country but added that the problem was not peculiar to Niger. She listed other states having similar problem to include Lagos, Ogun and Osun. She assured that efforts were ongoing toward addressing the problem.
