Ebonyi governor suspends adviser for revenue fraud

The Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, on Thursday suspended his Special Adviser on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Jeremiah Oketa, indefinitely.

Although the details of why Mr. Oketa was suspended was not disclosed by the government, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that he was suspended for creating a separate bank account for payment of IGR without the consent of the state government.

Mr. Oketa was said to have connived with a company mandated to enumerate all the buildings in the state for tax payment and created separate bank account where the taxes would be paid without the knowledge of the government.

It was gathered that the state government had already created its own account for the purpose.

Angered by the development, the government wielded the big stick and suspended Mr. Oketa indefinitely.

Announcing the suspension at a press briefing, the state commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Emmanuel Onwe, said Mr. Oketa had already been stopped from collecting IGR for the state.

He announced that commissioners had been banned from collecting IGR for the state, adding that only Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) is charged with the responsibility of collecting Internally Generated Revenue.
He said the decision was to allow the commissioners to concentrate on their jobs for optimal performance.

SOURCE: PREMIUM TIMES