The Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, Christopher Maikalangu, has inaugurated a taskforce for revenue monitoring, inspection and enforcement in council.
Speaking during the inauguration on Tuesday in Abuja, Maikalangu said that the taskforce will work with mobile courts, lawyers and security agents to curtail the nefarious activities of fake and illegal revenue collectors in the council.
He further charged members of the taskforce to ensure there is no double taxation of residents and to also work within the ambits of the law.
According to him, the team will assist in ridding the system of undue molestation, use of thugs as revenue collectors, reduce the activities of fake and unauthorized revenue collectors, in addition to eradicating all forms of illegal financial transactions.
“The Council has also introduced a cashless revenue payment policy in our bid to stop the criminals whose business is to divert cash meant for AMAC into private accounts.
“Today’s event is another phase in our desire to further sensitise the people to take responsibility of their civic duties in ensuring they pay all revenues to AMAC on time and without diversions.
“This AMAC Taskforce on Revenue Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement is therefore inaugurated today, alongside the Mobile Court, to perform the following functions:
“i. General monitoring of revenue activities within the Council especially, the activities of revenue collectors/consultants;
“ii. Investigate, discover and stop the activities of fake revenue collectors within the Council;
“iii. Instilling sanity in the revenue sector by identifying grey areas (if any), on the field with a view to mitigating uncovered anomalies;
“iv. Fish out touts and miscreants who are often fakes in the field and hand them over for prosecution accordingly;
“v. Identifying incidences of double taxation and report back to my office for further necessary action;
“vi. Where there are clear incidences of double taxation, advise appropriately, how such revenue heads can and should be harmonised;
“vi. Above all, the task force is expected to identify tax evaders, arrest and prosecute offenders with a view to restoring sanity in the system by developing database for effective resource and revenue mobilization for sustainable development of AMAC,” he said.
On behalf of the team the Chairman of the taskforce, Yunusa Yusuf, promised to report back in success by within three months
“We are not touts. We won’t work like tje other people. We will work within the ambit of the law. I want to use this opportunity to warn that anyone who pays money to fake revenue agents in the name of AMAC will have to pay double.
“We are grateful to the Executive Chairman of AMAC for giving us all we require to work, including lawyers, mobile court and security agents. We won’t disappoint. We will deliver on our mandate. We will reward this faith reposed in us and will report back within there months,” Yusuf said.