2 weeks Ago By Atabor Julius
Alhaji Salisu Sule Enehe is the chairman, Kogi State InternalRevenue Service (KGIRS). In this interview he speaks on how the Service is working hard to meet its 2024 budgetary target, the strategy they are using to make Kogites pay theie taxes with ease, among other issues. ATABOR JULIUS brings the excerpts: Early This Year, the State Government Gave You IGR Target Of N30.
2billion. How Far have met the target as the year is running out? As at September ending, KGIRS has been able to generate over N19.8billion.
We have October, November and December, we are very hopeful that we should be able to if not 100 percent, but achieve 90 percent of the target. Again, the economy is very challenging and we are driving tax with human face. We are not just looking at compliance, and enforcement.
Based on the situation of the economy in Nigeria, we decided to minimize the enforcement of tax compliance. We’re using persuasion for people to pay tax. To us, if we do enforcement to close your shop, and the business dies, who will pay the tax? That is why, we minimise enforcement, except occasional cases.
Especially, when organisation has ability to pay but because they are now thinking that this people are not disturbing them so they won’t pay, that is when we carry out enforcement. In this case, you will admit with me that we have minimized enforcement because of the economic challenges in the country. Let me also sincerely thank Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo, for all he’s doing for the people of Kogi State since he assumed office.
Even when he is not in Kogi State, he does go out there to visit agencies to attract investments to our state. It is when these investments come that tax will go up. Because, those individuals that will work in those places are going to pay their taxes.
The government is doing everything possible to attract investments and agencies that will bring more development to our State. Very soon, the Bank of Industry, will open its branch in the state. What that means is that, beyond the Bank of Industry opening its branch and people working there, our investors who are into production will be able to access single digit loan from it.
We are also aware that very soon, we will commence construction of airport, workers will be employed and tax will be paid from those workers. In agriculture, we’re also aware that he has flagged off agricultural incentives. These are measures put in place by the Governor for us to have economic activities in our state.
When all these improve, naturally, tax collectionwill improve. We keep telling the people that we’re not here to tax poverty, but prosperity. From the income that we make, that is what we’ll use to take care of the generality of the people.
Some persons believe you can expand the revenue of the state, are you thinking outside the box beyond income tax and other taxes that are visible? When we say we want to increase the revenuebase, what that means is bringing more peopleinto the tax net. It means creating a new tax item because tax is a law. And we don’t make law here.
Am also happy that the general public is aware that the Federal Government is also looking at minimising the number of tax items that is why we have the economic stabilisation bill before the National Assembly that are looking at bringing down the tax items to a single digit for the whole country. The total tax item the federation is collecting is about 62. But, what the federation bill is looking at which is being championed by President Tinubu is because there are complaints of double taxation.
But there is nothing like that because they see somebody from Federal Inland Revenue, State Internal RevenueService and Local Government coming to knock their doors for tax and they will start complaining of double taxation. That is not true. They’re paying for revenue services of different items.
Let me also shock you. Here in my office most peopleare not in the tax net especially those private individuals. Like peoplesay in the tax environment, data is the black oil that is why recently, there is a collaboration between the joint task force and all the State Internal Revenue Service with Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU) to ensure that those eligible to pay their tax do it.
Apart from those who are earning salaries and are being deducted from source, normal individuals who are business men, hide their information of their income. Some don’t even pay at all because they don’t have addresses. So, when you hear the word increasing the tax base it is about bringing those who are not paying to the tax net and that is what KGIRS is trying to do.
Is not by increasing tax items. That is what the digitisation we are doing is taking us to. For you to achieve this, it means you will be working with a team, what have you done to motivate your team towards achieving the goal? I think that story is a thing of the past in KGIRS.
Enehe is not from outside. That situation that workers are not being motivated is now a thing of the past. Under my tenure, I constituted a committee to commence promotion process.
We engaged a consultant who conducted examination, and results were released. The management committee went into a panel of interview and at the end of the day about 60 percent of the staff qualified for promotion and about 40 percent failed. Later on, I spoke to myself that somebody that has spent years in this place, it won’t be ideal for him or her to just leave like that.
I said to myself that maybe when they were writing the examination, they weren’t happy or in a good mood. I came back and called an emergency meeting seeking the approval of the management that those who failed should be promoted. At that particular year, every staff were promoted.
It is now a natural thing that when you’re due for promotion, you will be promoted using performance indicator. The staff here will continue to enjoy more than the normal civil servant because they are not civil servants. We’re a commissioned base organisation.
The good news is that by the end of November, even the dispatched rider in Kogi State Internal RevenueService even though his highest certificate is primary or secondary School will earn N72,500. What is your relationship with the staff generally? To hold a united society, you must be fair to others. God has been fair to me.
In 2022, I trained every member of staff. Talking about fairness, I don’t look at the name when they bring a file to me. I don’t look at who brings it as far as procedures are followed.
What we do here is care. We’re committed in developing leadership. The things we don’t condole is stealing, forgery of documents and crimes in the system.
I read recently on social media that I embezzled some funds in the renovation of this building. I won’t trade words with them because they might not be informed or they are being sponsored by their pay masters. A total of N179,000,000 was approved for the renovation of this building by his Excellency Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo and not N500, 000, 000 as being peddled on social media.
They have no fact so there is no need to give them attention because am focused. That is the more reason we didn’t do rejoinder. How have you been able to stop illegal revenue collections in the state? It has become an inherent problem.
We came to Kogi State in 2016, and it has become a norm. While we are fighting it, we shouldn’t forget that there is also a strong interest which are the non-state actors. With the support of his Excellency, a joint task force was set up to stop this illegal revenuecollections in our State.
We have prosecuted over 40 people. For now, we are doing enlightenment across the 21 Local Government of the state so that the citizens can be aware of their rights. Success has been made, but saying we can completely eradicate them, is a work in progress.
What do you make of your tenure so far? For me I’m just doing my work. Looking back from where we’re coming from, we’re making progress. I can’t rate myself.
Doing that will amount to self-praising. What do you want to be remembered for? Every day of my life here, I am prepared to move on. I should be remembered for somebody who has taken KGIRS to another level.
My prayers is that, any time I pay visit here, I should see more developments, and people should be able to welcome me. If I do bad to them they won’t welcome me. Any message for tax payers at a time the country is facing hardship? Like I said earlier, we’re not taxing poverty but prosperity.
They should be steadfast as we’re committed to giving them value for their money. We are all government and we’re just representatives of our people. All of us are citizens of the state and cannot be in Government House.
Governor Ododo is already serving the people, so each individual should contribute their money through taxes so that we can have something in the basket that can go round. Our message is that their tax is working for them. They should do a self-assessment and comply with the law by paying tax.
Very soon, we will deploy POS across the state so that it will be less difficult in the payment of taxes across the state..
