Ogun govt arrests illegal tax collectors

The Ogun State government has announced the arrest of some allegedly illegal revenue collectors for issuing fake revenue receipts and non-remittance of revenue collected into the state government’s coffers.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Hassan Adekunle, who disclosed this yesterday in Abeokuta in an interview with journalists, said the arrest followed efforts to sanitise the revenue collection process and block leakages in revenue collection.

Adekunle enjoined all revenue contractors in the state to abide by the terms of their engagement and ensure that revenues collected were promptly remitted into the state government’s coffers.

The Permanent Secretary equally warned that anybody found operating an illegal toll point or not adhering to the terms of engagement would be arrested and prosecuted.

“Ogun State is a preferred destination of choice for investors, so we cannot afford to do things the old way. The aim of the exercise is to

bring sanity into the system, as well as make these unscrupulous individuals desist from the unlawful act,” he said.

He also revealed that the Revenue Monitoring Team would be monitoring all toll points on regular basis for enforcement, saying anybody caught in any illegal act would be prosecuted by the mobile court established for that purpose.

“The present administration is ready to ensure that all revenue agents adhere strictly to the laiddown rules and regulations, as well as be transparent in their revenue returns to the state government’s coffers, so as to enhance revenue performance,” Adekunle noted.

The Revenue Monitoring Team Leader and Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Finance, Mr Richard Eleyoowo, explained that the intention of the present administration was to ensure revenue optimization towards increasing the revenue base, as well as enforce sanity at the toll points in the state.