By Ololade Abe
Motorists in Ekiti State have raised alarm over alleged extortion by management of the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), under the watch of the Executive Chairman, Mr Olaniran Olatona.
This is coming barely a week after some traders also cried out over abuse of office and arbitrary sealing off of their means of livelihood by the chairman in the name of making money for government.
Speaking with our correspondent, a cross section of motorists alleged that the management of the service forcefully collected the sum of eighty three thousand naira from them as fine for failure to renew their vehicle particulars.
According to them, it’s an act of wickedness for the chairman to impose a fine of eighty three thousand naira as penalty for the renewal of vehicle particulars which is less than twenty five thousand naira.
One of the motorists said: “This is absolute wickedness, how can you impose #83,000 fine on a struggling driver in this harsh economy? This man must be called to order, he is trying to set the people against the Governor.
“Everything is not money, where is his sense of empathy and understanding? We are still battling with the fuel subsidy removal, now this evil policy and illegal fine.
“This same man has been closing people’s shop up and down, collecting outrageous money from them, we are not against government making money but it should be done with modesty”.
Also, a woman who spoke with correspondent wept profusely as she lamented the effect of the fine on her family.
In her word, “I had to go and borrow from different places when they impounded my car, I am a widow, I am still struggling to source for my children’s school fees but see what this man has caused me now.
“I am pained to the bone marrow, this man’s action is against the person and programmes of Governor Oyebanji, our Governor is known for giving succour to the people and not complicating their situation.
“The Governor must act fast and remove this man, he is up to something, his plan is to set the people against the Governor and he must not be allowed”.
When contacted on telephone, Chairman, Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Olaniran Olatona confirmed that the service was actually charging eighty three thousand naira before any impounded vehicle could be released.
He explained that the service ran jingles on radio, wrote letters to the religious leaders and published stories last week informing all Ekiti residents that they should make sure their vehicles particulars are correct and up to date, because any one apprehended and their vehicle was impounded for any reason, will need to show evidence of tax payment, which is tax clearance certificate before the vehicle will be released.
According to him, If those vehicle owners have been paying their taxes, what they need to do is to show us evidence of their tax payment and then we will let their vehicles go but where they don’t have that one, they will have to pay because many people are evading taxes.
“It’s a presumptive tax. If you bring your tax payment, it will be evaluated and if we are to assess them correctly, some of them could pay N500,000 but we will calculate the average taxes he should have paid for three years”.