From right, Mr. Okon Okon, chairman AKIRS; the President Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, Dame Gladys Simplice; Elder Joshua Asuquo, Vice chairman 1, Annual Tax Conference 2020 and the chairman CITN, Uyo district and Society, Elder Edemeka Udosen, during the opening of the CITN office for Uyo district and society on Thursday 9th January 2020.
▪ CTIN opens office in Uyo
By Abasifreke Effiong
The Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Okon Okon, says the state’s revenue service under his leadership has deepened tax practices in Akwa Ibom such that more taxpayers are voluntarily coming out to pay their taxes.
The AKIRS generated N26.6 billion between January and September 2019, the highest the state has generated since its creation.
He said AKIRS deploys lawful, contemporary tax measures in its tax drive and it is working towards setting up tax clubs in tertiary institutions in the state to entrench good tax payment habit in the up and coming generation.
Okon who stated this when the AKIRS hosted the President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, Dame Gladys Simplice and executive of CITN, Uyo and district society penultimate week, said the service is determined to collect the highest revenue in the state ever generated in the year 2020.
Akwa Ibom state’s IGR target for 2020 is N52.5 billion, and AKIRS is expected to generate N45 billion, which is 85.71 percent of the projected revenue.
Okon said the deepening of tax practices under the Udom Emmanuel administration and improvement in tax education have added value to taxation and created viable opportunities in the private sector for tax consultants in the state.
“We have just started deepening tax practices in Akwa Ibom state. Entrenching taxation in Akwa Ibom state is a recent development that is almost aligned with the coming in of the present administration led by His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, so the onus is on us to fast-track the activities of our institute to make up for the lost years.”
“2020 is the year we are set to collect the highest possible revenue in the history of the internal revenue service in Akwa Ibom state.”
Justifying the service’s support to CITN Uyo and district society in the acquisition and furnishing a new office, Okon said CITN has made remarkable impact in the state and would do better with more support.
“We came to meet CITN in our office at the secretariat. We believe that we cannot afford to tuck in CITN in one of our rooms when other institutions are well represented in the city. So we decided to upscale the activities of CITN in Akwa Ibom state by acquiring an office accommodation. We believe that this will elicit the necessary attention from members, students, government and other professions.”
“We will continue to support CITN, starting from home, that is Uyo and district. Support to CITN is a support to ourselves. Any investment that we make, any expenditure that we incur towards the improvement of CITN Uyo and district, we take that as an investment, not as an expenditure because we are investing in human capacity development. This capacity is what we need to draw from to improve revenue collection in the state.”
Okon thanked the CITN, President, Dame Gladys Simplice for the visit and assured her of the continued support of AKIRS to the institute.
Traditional dancers thrilling the CITN President, Dame Simplice and AKIRS chairman, Mr. Okon Okon at the event.
In her remark, the CITN President, Dame Gladys Simplice said CITN will support all revenue services in the country to achieve their targeted IGR in 2020.
She lauded the chairman of AKIRS, Mr. Okon Okon for giving remarkable support to CITN Uyo and district society, noting that the office accommodation provided to the institute by Okon will improve the activities of CITN in the district.
Simplice who is also the chairperson of the West African Union of Tax Institutes, WAUTI, urged AKIRS to ensure that it engages professionals only as its tax consultants, saying that such will ensure best practices in revenue generation processes.
The CITN chairman, Uyo and district society, Elder Edemeka Udosen while welcoming the President of the institute to Uyo for the inauguration of the new office of the district, said Uyo and district society has “grown in leaps and bounds” since their assumption of office in December 2018.
Highpoint of the CITN President’s visit to Uyo was the inauguration of the new office of CITN, Uyo and district society. The new office is located on 2nd floor, 110 Abak road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
