Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has teamed up with the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and mandated the Joint Mobile Sanitation Agency (JOMSA) to harmonize mobile tax collection across local government areas.
The directive was in response to advisory by members of National Assembly, to local government authorities, to end the frustrations being faced by motorists as regard activities of touts and multiplicity of vehicular taxes and levies at local government areas.
They requested that relevant local government bodies cleanse the mobile advert tax system and harmonize the taxes thereof, so as to protect commercial road users from the activities of unregistered people on the road.
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JOMSAN President, Dukeson Godwin, told journalists at a sensitization workshop for members of the association and other implementing partners in Abuja, that Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with all the parties, resulting in a harmonized tax regime for commercial road users.
He said the agreement gave a legal backing and specific responsibilities to JOMSAN on how to execute the task for the benefit for all parties involved in the local government tax collection system.
He said:”We have been inundated with barrage of complaints as regards illegal activities of unregistered persons extorting money from commercial motorists that travel to different part of Nigeria, under the umbrella of local government mobile tax officers.
“The complaints are high in Rivers, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi and several other states in Nigeria. These people disregard directives of the association to compel commercial motorists to pay charges Outside the one paid elsewhere. That is wrong, absurd and exploitation.”
He, however, said that correction measures has been taken to ensure that relevant officers enforce the new guidelines for the collections of the tax, and sanction any staff found to have erred.
“The aim is to end the era of motorists paying for mobile advertisement in one location and are stopped elsewhere for the same payment. Hence, uniform certificate will be issued to motorists that have met necessary basic requirements and made necessary payment, which will cover mobile sanitation, mobile advert, radio/television advert,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ALGON National Chairman, Gambo Tanko, advised the parties to abide by the content of the agreement, particularly in the area of dispute resolution, financial issues, Vehicle Clearance Certificate (VCC), among others.
He added: “We shall hold JOMSAN responsible and accountable for any case or report of multiple taxation, harassment and intimidation of lawful road users by either accredited or unaccredited tax collection officers on the road.
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