Photo caption: Chief Cyril Ikemefuna Ede, President and Chairman of Council, CITN, presenting a gift to Governor Godwin Obaseki during a courtesy visit to the Government House on Wednesday, August 8, 2017.

The Edo State Government says only a miserable 160,000 representing 4% of the state’s approximately four million population and corporate bodies, pay about N2bn monthly tax in the state.
Receiving the President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Chief Cyril Ikemefuna Ede, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Benin City, the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, assured residents of the state that the administration would ensure judicious use of the tax revenue.
According to him, all revenues collected as tax by the administration would be used for executing capital projects across the state, rather than for recurrent expenditure.
He said the administration has since realised that “if you show the people what their tax revenues are used for, it will encourage more people to pay their taxes, which in turn will increase what is collected monthly in the state and more developmental projects will be executed.”
That is why, he continued, the government undertaking capital projects “in the education sector such as refurbishing schools, (as well as) road construction and other critical infrastructural projects are done with tax money.”
He said that all hands must be on deck to change the narrative of taxation and ensure the people don’t see tax as a burden, but a responsibility that they must carry out.
Obaseki, told his guests that his administration appreciates and understands the role of technology in tax administration and disclosed that “One of the mandates the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) is working on is to deploy technology in getting more people into our tax system.”
Earlier, the CITN President commended the governor for the developmental strides recorded within his short period in office, noting that the institute was in Benin City for the Mandatory Professional Training Programme (MPTP) which is usually held in various locations across the country.
He expressed the institute’s readiness to partner with the state in the area of tax administration.