LESS TAX MORE DEVELOPMENT: THE NEW DEAL FOR ABIANS Let me begin by thanking all our numerous supporters- the young people of this generation and young at heart who believes that the time for change has come; who understands that nothing will change until we decide to change it; who are tired of the failures and hardship of the past and want a new future of hope and possibility; our ever ready young men and women who are working hard daily in every field of endeavor believing that in 2015 Abia State will become a pride of place for all Nigerians as God’s own state- I am humbled by your courageous, daring, ground breaking and history making support for my candidacy. In the past 15 years Abians have witnessed an astronomical increase in the number of taxes, rates and levies that our people are mandated to pay to the government amidst the socioeconomic hardship we are facing. These taxes come in different names like Infrastructural development levy, Environmental levy, Borehole levy, Business premises, Bakassi levy, ASEPA Bucket…the list runs on. Despite these taxes however we are yet to see commensurate level of development in any sector of our economy. No refuse recycling plants in our state; our roads have remained deplorable; electricity continues to be unsteady; unemployment rate soars to unimaginable height; healthcare centers remain ill-equipped; rural-to-urban migration continues to swell; and hunger, poverty and hardship continues to increase in our dear state. More worrisome is how these taxes are collected. Government taxes and levies have been sold out to individuals and companies who pay huge sum of money to the state government to become “tax contractors”. In order to recover their money these people use every imaginable and cruel means to collect the levies from the people. They parade around town with touts and police officers who help them beat up people, confiscate their goods and properties and put our people in detention as though they are colonial masters and we are their slaves. A visitor can be beaten up, arrested and bundled into a waiting bus if he is found at the house of a defaulter at the time of arrest; goods worth more than what people owe are confiscated; and arrested defaulters pay more than double the amount they owe. What is more, there is hardly any sensitization on these levies by the government before implementing them. You can wake up one morning to see a court summon pasted on your gate charging you with defaulting in a government levy you have not heard of before. To worsen the situation, majority of our young people are unemployed. Only an estimated 23% of our population has paid employment and with the slowing of business and commercial activities in the state owing to bad roads, absence of electricity and lack of infrastructure, the income of the few self-employed traders is very uncertain. Sometimes my friends in Ariaria Market or Timber market will open their shops for three months without having any reasonable sale. Yet everyday government tax contractors continue to hound and harass them for one government levy or the other. Our people are not happy struggling day and night and thereafter take the little money they have to pay government levy when the government does not care about their wellbeing. You use your money to drill borehole to provide water- something government couldn’t provide for you- and a “tax contractor” knocks on your door the next day to demand levy on borehole; residents contribute money to grade their street road- a clear responsibility of government- and someone pastes court summon on your gate ordering you to appear in court for defaulting in infrastructural levy or risk arrest. If only we have a government as responsible as our people, as determined as our industrious population, as development conscious as Abians, there is no obstacle that we cant overcome. There is no destiny that we cannot fulfill. I know we cannot blame government alone for the failure of our system. Our people don’t expect government to do every thing for them. We too have a responsibility. We too have defaulted in our responsibility. In the past 15 years all our people have done about our government is, “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, do nothing”. We too must change. 2015 is the time to change that. We must change from wanting to get everything free. Only civil servants and a few company employees pay their income tax in Abia State because it is deducted from their salary. The rest of the people hardly pay tax except politicians who do so only when they want to contest election. Most times taxes deducted from salary are not remitted to the government and at other times the actual amount is not paid and no tax certificate is issued. Tax fraud is perpetrated both by government agents and the people. I believe that tax is an obligation of every wage earning citizen to government but government has an obligation also to provide the citizens with much needed amenities that will guarantee good life for them and generations to come. That’s the way to move forward. That’s the change we need. That’s what I intend to do in 2015. That is why I have a plan to give Abians a new deal in taxation if I become the Governor of Abia State in 2015. My administration will live up to its responsibility of using the state’s resources to develop our state before asking our people to live up to their responsibility of paying what they owe government. Government must take the lead. People need to see good road before they can pay infrastructural levy; people need to gain employment before they are taxed on their income; refuse need to be disposed properly before government demand environmental levy and adequate security should be provided in both rural and urban areas before people are mandated to fulfill their responsibility to government. I intend to run an administration that will first be responsible before demanding Abians to be responsible. This is the change we need. This is the new deal Abians will have with Udo Ahaiwe come 2015. In achieving this, my administration will stop the contracting of government revenue sources to individuals and companies. Local government internal revenue sources will be returned to the local government. We will have a refuse disposal plan that will include the establishment of refuse recycling plants in each of our 17 LGAs and also designate refuse collecting units in streets in our urban areas for house-to-house refuse collection. We will invest in road and infrastructure especially in Aba and other urban centers across the state. We will create massive employment in commercial agriculture, manufacturing industry, innovative technology and tourism. We will do all these and more. Wouldn’t you like to see this happen in your life time? Society develops by careful planning, orderliness and the political will to implement plans. We must get it right before things change. My administration’s tax reform will inspire every citizen to be willing and highly motivated to pay whatever he owe government without being intimidated, harassed and victimized. We will ensure that only qualified government tax officers are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that taxes and rates are remitted to government account through authorized designated banks. Government will carry out constant sensitization and two-way information flow on all government policies to foster understanding and collective effort in implementing the policies. I believe we can make this change happen. I believe the change we need is now. We can start the new Nigeria here in Abia State come 2015 because we are NUMBER ONE, we are God’s own state. That’s why I am in this race. That’s why I ask for your support. Support a visionary Governor that will give Abians a new tax deal that demands less tax but delivers more development. Support a young Governor that will give the young people of Abia State a voice in government. This is a battle between the young generation that need change and the old generation that want to maintain a status quo of failure. This race is your race. It is our only chance to build a new future that gives every Abian an opportunity to succeed. It is our chance to prove ourselves. We can make this change happen. Support Udo Ahaiwe for Governor Abia State. BELIEVE POSSIBILITY
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 08:37:12 +0000
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