The Abia State government has dismissed allegations that it is enforcing harsh taxation policies and aggressively targeting businesses and individuals.
In response to the claims, the government stated that it has already eliminated touting and implemented a Single Treasury Account to promote transparency. It also refuted the accusation that it imposed a N450 million levy on each filling station in the state.
According to a statement released on Sunday by Emmanuel Okpechi, Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Internally Generated Revenue, the introduction of a Harmonized Task Force has helped end practices like multiple ticketing and extortion across the state.
He said that all government revenues are paid into a single account to plug leakages, improve cash management and tackle opaque accounts.
Okpechi further explained that the daily e-ticket for tricycles is N500, stressing that the amount was the level tricycle unions indicated that they could shoulder.
“The notion that N450 million is charged per filling station is false, bogus and illogical.
“If a single station were to pay N450 million in “fees,” what revenue would be left for them to operate? There is no such levy anywhere in Abia’s approved schedules.”
The government equally denied any agreement to give 15 percent of Abia State 2025 revenue to Access Bank, explaining that the two bodies are only
in “professional partnership to strengthen financial processes and technology”.
Okpechi urged Abia residents to pay through approved channels like AbiaPay, banks, approved PoS/e-channels and insist on their e-receipt, adding that any touting activity, unofficial tickets or cash demands should be reported to the Harmonised Task Force.