Taxation in Abia: Ex-Commissioner faults Otti for going against his campaign promises

A former Abia State Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu has said that it was unfortunate that the government of Governor Alex Otti had gone ahead to impose taxes on Abia people when he promised he would never do so until he spread prosperity.

Okiyi-Kalu who spoke on a Radio Programme monitored by New Telegraph in Aba said that politicians who came into power with deceit and propaganda would not waste any time to show their true colours and urged Abia people to endure whatever they saw now, stressing that help was on the way.

During the campaigns, many National Newspapers had reported Otti’s famous definition of tax which he said was ” the government’s share of the prosperity it has created”, stressing that “government loses the moral right to collect tax from anybody when it has not created prosperity.”

According to Otti, “You must first create prosperity and now demand tax as your own share for the prosperity you created. When you see that your environment is clean, every day they come and cart away the garbage, and your water is running why will you not pay tax? That’s how it should be.”

Speaking on the ongoing taxation issue which has made some traders in major markets in the state threaten to take the government to court, the former Commissioner said that campaign promises should not be ignored as the people were counting on them.

“When you come into power through deception and propaganda, it’ll not be long before people see your true self. I want the people of Abia State to go and play back everything we said during the election and see whether we lied at that time.

“What we were not willing to do was to deceive our people. What we were not willing to do was to say we’ll do A and turn around to do B. Now if a government was planning to come into power and promised that they’ll not tax people until we’ve spread prosperity. That same person heading a new government has not even started creating prosperity not to talk of spread, suddenly started taxing people.

“What they’re doing is similar to what’s written in the Bible where Rehoboam, the king that took over from Solomon
told Israel that his predecessor (father) chastised you with whips; I will chastise you with scorpions.

“This is very unfortunate. Revenue collection or IGR in particular is desirable if it is approached honestly. But because you are approaching things dishonesty, there’s a tendency to be misunderstood.”

Speaking on the demolition expected around the Mission Hill area of Umuahia which starts from Abia Tower to Isi-Gate, Umuahia, Okiyi-Kalu said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a progressive party that was development-oriented, stressing that they supported anything that was moving towards the development of Abia State.

“But what we want to see is a situation upfront with information. When we saw documents stipulating that properties are to be demolished in seven days, we shouted. If we didn’t shout, all those people saying the current Government should be left alone to do their things would have equally lost their houses along that axis of Umuahia.

“I don’t mind a project that will improve that Mission Hill Road to Six Lanes, but inside me, I’m asking myself, if Mission Hill is the most critical road in Umuahia right now. In asking that, I’m looking at the economic well-being that the road between Amuzukwu to the Ubani market would have engendered.

“That road is about five kilometres. It starts from somewhere around the railway and if you dualize that road, make it six lanes and head straight into Ubani market, what you would do is decongest Isi-Gate because people now have a smooth access road into Ubani market and that means that Aesthetic would have improved.

“Because he said that the only reason he wants to do what he wants to do at mission hill is for Aesthetic reasons. Not that the road is bad, but he wants to beautify it and not that the road is bad. However, if he moves from Amuzukwu to Ubani Road, Isigate will be decongested, two he’ll rescue the Ubani market in an unprecedented manner.

“If I were in charge of a government that wants to make an impact, I’ll not go to mission hill first to make six lanes. I’ll first go to Ubani. Aesthetics should be something we should do later. If you’re giving people seven days or three weeks, and when they ask for compensation you after they must have left you’ll start discussing compensation, then there’s something fundamentally wrong.

“The process is for you to compensate before you start work if you will compensate. You do the compensation so that those people will have time and money to get to another place. I also know that Government can decide not to compensate. Whichever way, you should make it clear to the people what you’ve chosen as your own option.

“Whatever option you chose, remember that people are going through a whole lot and you took an oath to protect them, their property and do not go against your oath of office. Whatever they’re doing, they should remember the people of Abia. They’re the reason why you’re driving bulletproof vehicles while they are exposed to criminals.”