Prompted by N75 billion revenue target for 2021 fiscal year, the Ogun State Internal Revenue Service (OGIRS) has aggressively begun enforcement of road tax compliance among all the motorists, bikers and truck drivers across 20 local government areas of the state.
The aggressive revenue drive by the State Revenue Collection Agency, according to Anthony Olaleye, the chairman of OGIRS, is borne out of desire to muster N6.25 billion monthly revenue, approximately N75 billion annually.
BusinessDay reports that the enforcement exercise on road tax compliance is being jointly undertaken by tax officers from the OGIRS, men of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF), Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) and Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) as part of effort to generate revenue and ensure safety and eligibility of motorists and bikers on the road.
Speaking on the enforcement exercise at OGIRS Headquarters in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital on Friday, Adegbenga Adeshina, special adviser to the Governor on Revenue and Executive Director II, said it was primarily to check adequacy of drivers’ documents, motorists’ eligibility on the road and to generate revenue through taxes.
“The essence for road enforcement is to ensure that people who drive on the road are eligible and vehicles are in good condition. So, basically before the revenue aspect, the safety of the people, their goods and vehicles are paramount reasons for the exercise according to the mandate of the State Governor”, he explained.
He advised motorists and bikers to comply voluntarily by visiting any of the 34 tax stations and six zonal offices of OGIRS across the state to get their vehicle papers done.
Also, Temidayo Sokunbi, director, Legal Services at the OGIRS, noted that the exercise would be carried out across 20 local government areas of the state, adding that “the enforcement exercise has been on for some days, starting with Abeokuta zone. Next week, we will be covering Ijebu-Ode zone and it will be done like that until we cover the whole state”.
