Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has inaugurated a new tax board for the state, with a charge on the members to shore up the internally generated revenue of the state.
Soludo inaugurated the board on Wednesday evening in the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, with Mr Richard Madiebo as the chairman of the board.
The board also consisted Executive Directors including; Dr. Greg Ugochukwu Ezeilo (Anambra South), Dr. Christian Madubuko (Anambra North), Mr. Benjamin Anierobi Okafor (Anambra Central).
Other members are the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake, Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ifeatu Onejeme, Commissioner for Lands, Prof. Ofornze Amucheazi, Commissioner for Transport, Mrs. Pat Igwebuike.
Others are Mr. Don Adizuo, Secretary/Head of Legal Dept., Mr. Chika Oformma, Head of Assessment and Mrs. Juliet Nwakpudolu, Head of High Net Individual Assessment Dept.
Highlights from address of Gov. Soludo
The governor in his address to the board members said: “It is critical to highlight the enormous potentials that exist, as well as the appropriate benchmarks and targets. As of Monday, we were dangling around N1billion per month, which is extremely low.”
“The internal revenue service requires a 180 percent turnaround. The current path we are taking will not get us very far because we have been trying it for a year. Members of this board must get to work right away because there is a lot of work ahead of them.
“We will interface and evaluate performance every three months. It will have a high mortality rate and a three-month life span. If this board fails, we will disband it and create a new one.”
The governor handed down terms of reference to members of the board, which included providing general policy guidelines regarding the functions of the State Internal Revenue Service and supervising implementation of such policies, among others.
