By ALEX ENEBELI

Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State has announced plans by his administration to constitute a committee to investigate allegations of tax increase in the state.

Mbah’s Senior Special Assistant on External Relations, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, disclosed this in a statement issued in Enugu and made available to newsmen on Friday.

He explained that his administration had only widened the tax net without increasing the rate.

He further stated that the rise in the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) was due to the introduction of e-payment and technology that blocked revenue leakages.

He blamed the beneficiaries of the old order of corruption in revenue collection in the state for the “false narratives on taxation in the state.”

The governor recalled that the state raked in N180.05 billion, up from N37 billion in 2023, to rank 5th on 2024 IGR table of the 36 states and FCT released by the National Bureau of Statistics about a fortnight ago.

According to him, Lagos State ranked first with N1.26 trillion, followed by Rivers, FCT and Ogun with 317.3 billion, N282.3 billion, and N194.9 billion, respectively.

“The taxation thing that you hear is actually misplaced.

“But I have also committed to setting up a committee that will include the market unions, the civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant groups.”

He explained that the committee would “do a review of what is happening in our tax space and come up with a report.

“My belief is that based on what we have done, we have not increased the tax rate.

“In fact, even under the laws, we are not able to do that.

“This is because the issue of personal or company income tax is a matter that is legislated by the National Assembly (NASS),” Mbah stated.

He explained that the rates could only be adjusted by laws made by the NASS.

“The only thing we did, which is something we believe that is now being politicised, is that we displaced some entrenched interests.

“Payments are now made directly to the state coffers, ending the era of people going to market with paper and harassing people, like drivers and Keke operators, to collect cash payments.

“Once you initiate programmes and policies like this, you will be displacing some entrenched interests and be sure to know that they will fight back.

“They won’t just go down without fighting.

“This falsehood is also narrated in such a way that if you have not done your own independent investigation, you will not know.

“You may be tempted to agree that the narrative is true,” he explained. (NAN)