By Tony Oraeki, Awka
The Anambra State Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, has declared to shut down services if Prof. Chukwuma Soludo led government insists on heavy taxation on transporters.
The association also said that if the state government refused to call them for stakeholders meeting to sort out the challenges, within the next two weeks they will go on strike.
RTEAN disclosed this shortly after their joint meeting held yesterday in Awka, the Anambra state capital.
The State Chairman of RTEAN, Ambassador Chinedu Nwabueze, addressed journalists, stating that they have sent several letters to the government on the matter without any response.
According to Nwabueze, the Anambra state government, through the State Board of Internal Revenue, has been heavily taxing transporters and intimidating drivers.
“The state government has been double taxing us, harassing our members, and intimidating our drivers, which have, on several occasions, led to the death of our members,” he stated.
Nwabueze criticized the government’s policies on the sub-transport sector, arguing that they have been implemented without consideration of key stakeholders.
He noted that the Anambra State Revenue Service has repeatedly awarded contracts to individuals and companies for the collection of levies and taxes on federal roads in the state, describing these collections as illegal and unconstitutional.
He revealed that an average tricycle driver in the state pays about N96, 000 in taxes annually, while those operating in major markets pay less than N30, 000 each year.
He argued that the taxation on tricycle drivers, which is meant to alleviate poverty, is excessively high and unacceptable.
“We shall resist the government agents collecting levies and taxes on federal highways from our members,” he said.
He appealed to the state government to convene a stakeholders’ roundtable within the next two weeks to discuss the issue, warning that if not addressed, they would be left with no other choice but to shut down services or seek legitimate actions.