Enugu traders reel in pains as govt begins sealing their shops
• Enugu State news today
Traders in Enugu State are reeling in pains as government again begins to seal their shops. The Board of Internal Revenue has started swooping in shop owners across the state.
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It is enforcing the annual revenue collection from shop owners. But those traders have their own side of the story. And they’re calling on Governor Peter Mbah to listen to it.
Mrs Monica Ezema, a foodstuffs seller at Ikpa Market, Nsukka, said they didn’t necessarily have problems paying the taxes. But the traders feel betrayed.
According to Mrs Ezema, Governor Peter Mbah promised them good market road, water and power supply during his campaigns in 2023. After they voted him, he slammed them with unprecedented taxes. Three years into his administration, and despite paying the levies, they’re yet to see any impact.
“We need to see what the government is doing for us. Last year, we paid this levy with difficulties. We are gradually getting used to it. That is why there are less agitation this year.
“We need the state to tar the road that passes through this market. We also need a fire service station. We need micro-credit schemes. During rainy seasons, we lose a lot to flooding. During dry seasons, we are at the mercy of dust. The other end of the road was tarred by a hotelier.
“Let us see the impact of what we are contributing to. We need power supply”, Mrs Ezema said.
Mrs Chika Odo who has a shop at Abakpa Market also complained. She said the tax collectors are giving them April-4th deadline, and have rejected the traders plea for date extension.
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“It is about one year ago that this revenue drive started. We protested, but the government insisted. This time around, we are ready to pay.
“But we want more time. Things are difficult, and we want the state government to understand with us”, she said.
Last year, defaulters were fined, and their shops were sealed by government officials, Mrs Odo said. The shops remained locked for the longer periods they were able to pay both the taxes and the penalties.
“They began using red tapes to seal the shops yesterday. Most of us are billed N36,000 annually,” another shop owner at Aho Opi said. She lamented the bites of present economic realities in Nigeria, said that even as Easter approaches she has not sew even one clothe for any human being. She is a sewer.
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Governor Peter Mbah made the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to jump from ₦26.8 billion in 2022 to a projected ₦406.7 billion by the end of 2025.