In a precise press statement issued today, the Cross River State Government bow to pressure and suspended the collection of the contentious Carbon Emission Levy.
Governor Ben Ayade’s spokesperson, Christian Ita, who circulated information to this effect, said the suspension was in “…keeping with the present administration’s resolve not to place too much burden on residents and indigenes of the state on payment of taxes…”. He further wrote that, “…consequently, all consultants and agents associated with the collection of this revenue head are hereby directed to withdraw from the field and halt their activities with effect from Thursday, 16th November, 2017.” Members of the public were “advised not to comply with any such demands henceforth. Note that those who fail to comply with His Excellency’s directive will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.”
In a swift reaction to the suspension, controversial Ben Ayade critic, Ifere Paul, immediately took to his Facebook page to declare the suspension as a victory borne out of the public outcry that greeted the implementation of the levy, in the first place. It is a position many residents agree to.
While it is not expedient to unmask the ‘consortium’ of consultants behind several tax schemes in the state, www.calitown.com investigations, conducted over a period of time appear to show a small cult of persons seemingly identifying areas and then selling tax ideas to the state government. Unfortunately we also discovered that while the state government has been less than thorough in granting these go-aheads, most of the taxes collected end in the pockets of a few persons close to the power machinery in the state while the state coffers remain empty.
Sources inside government insist that the barrage of taxes levied in the state are handed to consultants as part of a grand political settlement scheme, benefiting a few persons to the detriment of a suffering mass of persons in the state. “Have you people not seen how most staff of the CRS internal Revenue Service, IRS, are now rredundant while the so called consultants collect taxes and levies? Have you people not seen how government’s tax figures have dwindled while consultants have multiplied? Please don’t make too much noise about one levy taken down because a more sane sub head will soon be put together and it will fly as a levy”, one person who has elected to remain anonymous maintains.
