Igbo-Eze North chair, Ogalla, urges constituents to pay tax to help government deliver democracy dividends

Igbo-Eze North chair, Ogalla urges constituents to pay tax to help government deliver democracy dividends

By Chris Odo

The importance of revenue generation to the delivery of democracy dividends to the people was the crux of a meeting on Wednesday between the Igbo-Eze North Local Government chairman, Hon. Uche Ogalla and the leadership of various markets, artisans, government functionaries and various stakeholders of the council area.

In the meeting, Ogalla noted the ongoing infrastructural revolution in Enugu State and the unprecedented commitment of Governor Peter Mbah to transform the Coal City state.

The Igbo-Eze North chairman said governance is a collective effort and all hands must be on deck to make Enugu the dream of the people.

Ogalla appealed to the people to pay relevant taxes to facilitate the government’s development programmes which would be beneficial to all including the future generation.

He said: “It is very important that we meet and interact, at intervals, to brief you on what the government is doing and what she is about to do, so that the propaganda the opposition spread on social media will not be your source of information.

“Those playing politics with the health, security and wellbeing of our people, are very insensitive.

“We all know that we have, in Enugu State, an exceptional governor, that has been doing uncommon things, bringing government’s presence to the most rural of the rural areas. “His Excellency Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mba has brought our tomorrow forward, through his disruptive innovations. This informs why you see the ongoing Type 2 PHC Hospitals and Smart Green Schools in our rural Communities and Wards. This is unprecedented in Enugu State, and one will not be wrong if we say that in Enugu State, our future has begun”.

Ogalla added: “When I came in as the Chairman of Igbo-Eze North, following in the footsteps of Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, I vowed that the development of Igbo-Eze North shall not be concentrated in the LGA headquarters, that we are going to be fair enough to distribute the dividends of governance evenly across Igbo-Eze North.

“While bringing transformation to our dear LGA, we have religiously observed the principles of JETA(Justice, Equity, Transparency and Accountability), which is the moral compass of this administration. We are working simultaneously on all aspects of the contract I have with our people, ranging from infrastructure, health, agriculture, youth Empowerment, security, etc.

“This is not to say that there is an increment in the allocation accruable to us from the Federation Account, No! it is because we have conscience and we are committed to what we promised our people. I want to assure you once again, that I am poised to give this government a human face.”

The LG chairman said that while other states are waiting for their tomorrow, that of  our people is already here and it is manifest in the innovative governance going on in Enugu State.

“What other states want to do tomorrow, Enugu State is doing it today, and Igbo-Eze North has keyed into that frequency.

“To achieve this however, we have to do certain things, like never before, to stay the course. We must change and desist from being complacent with the status quo. States and countries that our people run to, did not do any magi; the only magic is that their citizens believe and participate in governance. “When government provides security, good roads, infrastructure, health facilities, etc, citizens have obligation to be part of governance by paying certain percentages of their annual earnings to support the government, without which it be viewed as an act of sabotage against the govt. This is the mechanism that does the magic”, he said.

He explained that it was against the backdrop that he called leadership of various groups to discuss the new tax regime in the state. He said: “Government has identified taxable businesses and incomes. One of them is boreholes. I have extensively explained this in other fora. Boreholes sunk for the purposes of making income are taxable. Those sunk for private use or for charity are not taxable, in fact, the government will find a way to support the later.

“Tax rates are never uniform. When you get a demand notice to pay a certain amount of money, just go to the relevant office, get assessed, discuss and agree on what you can pay based on your earnings. The amount on the demand notice is not cast on stone. Always reach out to the LGA authorities to get clarifications.

“I interfaced with the Neighborhood Watch commanders penultimate week, and after our assessment of all the Communities, we found out that people who have events, ranging from Traditional marriages, weddings, funerals, House warming, etc, have a way of paying staggering amounts of money to the Neighborhood Watch of host Communities; what was expedient for government to do is to harmonize these payments considering the present value of money, so, we all agreed on a harmonized security levy of N50,000(Fifth thousand naira only) across the LGA.

“The sharing formula for this security levy remains 60% to the host Community and 40% to the LGA.

“Next are hospitals, whether native or orthodox, are taxable.

He expressed joy that that those who run native Herbal Homes are already cooperating with government.

He said: “They are coming and they are being assessed on what they can pay as tax per annum. Note that the new tax regime is effective from April 1, 2025”.

The Council Chairman also delved into a nagging issue that has lingered for a long time among market unions, and gave the following instructions.

“We shall make the take-off of businesses very easy in Igbo-Eze North LGA. Whenever anyone is set to start up a business in Igbo-Eze North, no one should place obstacles of any form before the person.

“Henceforth, there should no business whatsoever, in Igbo-Eze North, that anyone shall be required to pay more than N100,000(one hundred thousand naira) at most, before he is allowed to set it up. Unions can fix their registration fee between Zero naira to N100,000 naira. No market unions within Igbo-Eze North should demand anything more than a 100k from upstarts, whether it is Chemist, Timber, Building Materials, Grains, etc.

“Moreover, 50% of whatever amount these unions may collect in this regard, must come to the Local Govt coffers”.

Ogalla hinted on appointing Market Liaison Officers, that shall serve as a communication channel between the government and the leadership of various markets.