Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria, AUFCDN, has decried the multiple taxes imposed on them on South-East and South-South highways.
The National President of AUFCDN, Dr. Mohammed Tahir, made this known while fielding questions from journalists in Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State.
Tahir blamed the scarcity and high cost of food commodities in the South-East to multiple taxations.
He noted that the multiple taxations perpetrated by illegal collectors on the major roads are seriously discouraging its members from transporting foodstuff and cattle to the South-East and South-South.
“Our members are mandated to pay revenue at the loading and off-loading points, which is observed in the South-West and the North.
“However, our members transporting foodstuff and cattle from the North to South-South and South-East regions are facing many challenges on the road like collection of multiple taxations.
“Some of the monies collected in the name of state revenue are not remitted to the government but go into individual pockets. So, we need to fight these illegal collections.
“For example, from Maiduguri to Lagos, there is no challenge. After we pay revenue from the loading point in Maiduguri, we do not pay any in Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun down to Lagos.
“But if you are coming to South-South and South-East from Maiduguri, if you enter Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Rivers down to Bayelsa or Imo, Abia down to Enugu, Anambra, Edo or Delta, it becomes like you entered another country. Even when we enter another country, they do not collect tax like the South-East and South-South do.
“They are collecting money more than we agree. We spend between N800 to N1 million naira to transport a truckload of cows from North to the South-South and South-East. For example, if you buy N200,000 cow in Adamawa, before we reach here, the price of the cow would be around N500,000. It is no longer funny because nowadays, a meat of N2,000 is no longer okay for a household because of the expenses on the road,” Tahir said.
While he noted that the situation is affecting the image of the regions, he urged the governors of the two geopolitical zones to urgently look into the situation.
He also promised to support them to generate revenue by ensuring his members pay their taxes at the loading and off-loading points as demanded by the law.
