A section of the public in Rivers State has rejected a bill seeking to empower the governor to rewrite any section of the tax laws – federal or state – and insert whatever new tax he deemed fit. Labour said it would call out its members if the bill was passed into law.
This came during a public hearing of the “Rivers State Taxes and Levies (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill 2016 and hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Bill” holding in the state capital. The public hearing came through pressure from labour, which said last week there must be such hearing on sensitive bills.
At the open hearing, the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Chika Onuegbu, in a written submission, said, “TUC is of the opinion that this bill is unnecessary, ill-timed and against the interest of the people of Rivers state.”
TUC said: “Another problem with the bill is that it gives excessive powers to the Governor to make regulation in section 2 and section 5. Specifically section 2 provides that: The applicable “Rates” (rates of taxes, dues, levies, fees, or other revenues) of Taxes and Levies listed in the Schedule to this Law shall be as determined from time to time by the Rivers State Revenue Service under the hand of the Governor. Section 2(2):
“The Governor may by Notice in the State Gazette issue regulations from time to time with respect to any item listed in the Schedule to this Law. While section 5 States that: The Governor may, by Notice in the State Gazette, amend the Schedule to this Law from time to time, to reflect any changes, alterations, additions, or restrictions made by Federal Legislation on Taxes and Levies which may be collected by States of the Federation of Nigeria.”
The TUC said these were wide powers given to the governor, which essentially means that the governor can impose additional taxes anytime he so chooses, and increase the rates payable at any time without recourse to the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“This is unacceptable, tyrannical and completely against the spirit and intent of constitutional democracy and should not be allowed by the House of Assembly of any state, and should not be allowed by the people of Rivers State,” the TUC said
The statement added: “We are particularly worried about the reintroduction of the illegal and controversial Rivers state Social services Contributory levy Law which has been declared as illegal by a Court of competent jurisdiction. We are therefore unsure what the Rivers state government want to achieve by listing such an illegal law in a new bill. We therefore appeal to the Rivers state House of assembly to use it good office and ensure that Rivers State Social Services Contribution Levy is expunged from the list of taxes to be collected under this law as listed in the schedule to the bill.”
Also, TUC said, it is important to remind the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Rivers State Government that even after crossing the legal hurdle occasioned by the aforementioned Court Judgment against the Rivers state Social Services Contributory Levy, that there is a subsisting agreement between the Rivers state government and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria(TUC), the Petroleum and Natural gas senior staff association of Nigeria(PENGASSAN) and the National union of Petroleum and Natural gas workers (NUPENG) on the effective commencement date of the Social Services Contributory Levy Law for our members. These were subject to some conditions the state government must meet before the commencement, regretting that those conditions had not been met at all.
“We therefore advise the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Rivers State Government to expunge the Rivers state Social Services Contributory Levy as it has been declared illegal by a Court of Competent Jurisdiction and amount to double taxation”, TUC warned.
Labour mentioned other revenue heads in the bill which may cause friction in the state and advised the state government to concentrate on bringing all taxable persons and companies into the tax net and provide enabling environment for more businesses to come in so as to make more money instead of creating new taxes for the same persons over burdened.
