The Niger State Board of Internal Revenue has sealed branches of eight banks and the regional office of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Minna over non-payment of taxes.
The entrances of the affected Banks were seen being chained and padlocked by the officials of the revenue board.
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Chairman of the Board, Mohammed Madami Etsu said the sealed banks owed the state about N456 million.
“They have been dragging the issues for some months now. It is time to act; other banks and businesses with liabilities are also in line for the same enforcement action,” he said.
He pointed out that the exercise was carried out in line with the provisions of the relevant tax laws.
The affected banks include Stanbic IBTC (N113.2m) Polaris Bank (N74.8m), UBA (N68.9m), Union Bank (N47.1m), First Bank (N45.7m), Heritage Bank (N31.5m) Unity Bank (N14m) and GTCO (N8.2m).
Others include AEDC Plc (N45.8m), Aloe Vera International Hotel (N3.9m) and Rashida Restaurant (N3.2m).
Bank officials who spoke in confidence described the action as an act of impunity. “It is a gross impunity as the penalty is non- existent. The applied penalty applicable is payable by corporate customers to the federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on its report,” said an official.
Another official said the banks would meet to explore the option of a class action to see to the resolution of the problem.
“We may have to embark on industrial action,” he said.
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