Mr Manson Endeboh, the RIRS Director who led the enforcement team, said that the tax agency sealed the gates of the NDDC headquarters for allegedly owing the Rivers State government withholding tax.
But the Special Assistant on Media, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, said the Commission was surprised by the development, “because the Commission had already begun paying the Revenue Service the arrears under question.”
“About two weeks ago, the Commission met with the tax enforcement team and started negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues, Amu-Nnadi explained.
” We understand that there is a court order. But it’s important for us to state that the Commission, as a responsible corporate organisation, had begun to attend to all obligations as agreed.
“Last week, the Commission paid the first tranche. They will receive the next tranche this week. This is a sign of goodwill and commitment on the side of the Commission to meet these obligations.”
Mr. Amu-Nnadi expressed dismay at the actions of the RIRS officials, noting that blocking the premises of the Commission was an unnecessary embarrassment and does not match the Commission’s goodwill.
“It is very surprising that even though we have begun paying these arrears dating back to 2013, which the current board inherited, we still have to deal with this little impasse. And mind you, over the past two years, the current Board has paid all the Commission’s tax obligations as at when due, he revealed.
