No fewer than 13 banks in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital city were denied access of business transactions while business activities were paralyzed in some others by officials of the Oyo state government on Monday.
Business activities had barely started when combined task force teams of the Oyo State Interministerial Enforcement Unit swoop on the financial institutions to enforce tax compliance.
As early as 9am, no fewer than 20 different branches of the various banks had been shut with sealed notices placed at the property.
Some of the areas the enforcement team carried out their activities include, Dugbe, Mokola, Idi-Ape, Agodi Gate, Secretariat Road, Challenge, Jericho, Bodija, and UI.
Other areas visited where the branches of the affected banks were located include, Aleshinloye, Bodija Market, Orita-Challenge, Ring Road and Total Garden axis.
While some banks have only one or two of their branches sealed, a particular branch had about 15 of its branches sealed for the same offence.
Some of the affected banks include Diamond, Stanbic IBTC, Skye, FCMB, Heritage, Eco, Fidelity, UBA, Union, and Standard Chartered.
Officials of the affected banks were seen running around to tidy up their papers to save losing the whole day’s business. While some succeeded in making the necessary payment as fast as they could to resume operations, some others were seen still trying to reach out to superior authority for a further directive.
A source within the government enforcement team said the affected banks defaulted in the payment of the annual environmental development levy.
The tax, which was to be paid to the coffers of the state government is said to be the payment for the impact of the various business and corporate entities on the environment across the state.
The affected banks were also said to have been found guilty for various duration ranging from 2015 to 2018, despite series of official communications and reminders to the management at different times.
It would be recalled that the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue (OYBIR), the coordinating agency for collecting all government revenues had last month issued a 14 day ultimate to all taxpayers in the state to pay up all outstanding dues and levies to the coffers of government.
The Chairman of the Board, Mr Bicci Alli had warned in the paid advertorial that the agency would embark on massive enforcement to seal up all erring corporate organisations on the expiration of the ultimatum.
But a source hinted that about two weeks after the expiration of the 14 days, the OYBIR had also written series of reminder letters to the affected banks, to which no response was gotten until the enforcement.
Many people who were within the affected bank premises when the enforcement team sealed up were seen with shock on the faces and expressing disappointment that corporate organization like banks could default in tax payment.
When contacted, the OYBIR Chairman said “the exercise we carried out today (Monday) is not something new and not outside the law. It is within the law. We went to restrain some corporate organisations that failed to pay what is due to Oyo state government after giving due notices, demand notices and even public notices to that effect and they failed to pay.
“So we went to those places to distrain them from having access to their premises and it’s going to be a continuous exercise, althrough the week and even next week.
“What they are guilty of is the payment of the environmental development levy. Some of them owe about two to three years, we wrote to them and gave them notices to pay, they refused to pay. It was as a result of their failure to pay that we now embarked on the needful.
“But it’s so sad that not until we have to take this step against the bank that they are now actually coming out to pay. The level of compliance after their premises was sealed scaled up to about 90 per cent. You could see that all of them have been coming forward to pay what they are owing the state government now.
“Government is not interested in disrupting the business of these corporate organisations, the business of government is to create enabling environment for business to thrive which Oyo state government has done tremendously well in the last few years and that’s why you see businesses springing up on daily basis in Oyo state. The government cannot disrupt their businesses unless where it is absolutely necessary.
“Not only the banks, but we also have some corporate organisations and individuals that are owing. The focus now is that we will collect every kobo that people are owing the state government, we did publication on August 13, in two widely read newspapers, drawing the attention of corporate organisations and individual residents of Oyo state to pay what all their taxes, dues and levies that are supposed to pay to the state government within 14 days.
“But that was like a reminder, prior to that: we served demand notices in line with extant laws on corporate organisations, individuals to pay their taxes. Some of the taxes are due early January, February, March, depending on the position of the law. However, when they failed to pay, we did the reminder in line with the position of the law and we now did a public notice on 14th August, giving them 14 days to be able to pay. So, nobody could tell us that they were not informed.
“Those that came up for payment after their premises were locked came to pay and never complained that they were never given notices. None of them came to complain that they didn’t receive notices because they acknowledged receipts.”