Enugu Tax Board Seals Access Bank, Union Bank, Unity Bank, 5 Others

February 20, 2017
Enugu Tax Board Seals Access Bank, Union Bank, Unity Bank, 5 Others

Enugu Tax Board Seals Access Bank, Union Bank, Unity Bank, 5 Others

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

At least eight commercial banks operating in Enugu State have been sealed off by the Enugu State Internal Revenue Board over their failure to pay about N1 billion as tax to the state government.

According to Channels TV, the affected financial institutions are Access Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and Unity Bank.

It was gathered that the eight banks were sealed by the state government on Monday in an exercise carried out by the tax board chairman, Mr Emeka.

The exercise was said to have started around 5:30am and this left customers of the banks stranded.

According Mr Odo, the board received orders from a State High Court to lock up the offending banks for failing to pay taxes to the state government.

Mr Odo told newsmen that, “We wrote to them earlier but they were defiant. We can no longer allow the banks behave like corporate outlaws.

“They have no business holding on to the taxes they collect on behalf of the government. The government need the money to deliver on its campaign promises.

“They have held on to the money since 2007 and we have held meetings with them but they failed to comply.

“This is the first time this kind of exercise is taking place in Enugu State and they will pay all the money even to the last kobo.”

Withholding tax is the 10 percent charge that banks collect from depositors and is supposed to be remitted to the government.

Mr Odo has said Monday’s exercise was the first phase of a crackdown on banks and companies operating in the state that fail to fulfil their civic duties to the state government, but assured customers of the offending banks that the government would take actions to remedy the situation and enable the banks to better serve their customers.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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