Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has pleaded with the judiciary in the state to support the state’s tax regime with a view to developing the state.
Speaking at a one-day stakeholders seminar on Tax Laws in Benin City yesterday, Oshiomhole urged members of the bar that recognize that when laws have been passed they are not meant to be convenient and should be obeyed as long as they are not in breach of the constitution.
The Governor who was speaking in the light of the various court injunctions against its tax laws said the land use charge is not peculiar to Edo State rather they are trying to domesticate what they have in Lagos.
Comrade Oshiomhole said he delights to see Edo State developed hence the emphasis on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as the state cannot move ahead on the basis of Federal allocations adding that the best protection for the rich is for the poor to be cared for.
Earlier the Chief Judge of Edo State, who was the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Justice Cromwell Idahosa said taxation is a touchy issue which has to be taken seriously.
He however urged the people to pay their taxes in the light of consequent development it has brought to Edo State.
The Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Ambassador Eheneden Erediawa who also threw his weight behind the tax laws said taxes are sources of income for development in developed nations.
Guest lecturer on the occasion and former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mrs Ifueko Omogui-Okauru pointed the need for emphasis on IGR. She however urged government to deal with the issue of double taxation.
The Land Use Act is a tax law in Edo State that mainly requires opulent members of the society to pay taxes on the lands they possess.