Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has said that his administration had not increased tax rate in the state as wrongly perceived by some groups and individuals.
Mbah said this on Saturday in Enugu while answering questions during a Town Hall meeting with citizens and different groups in the state.
He said that what his administration did was to expand the tax net to capture businesses who have not been paying tax over the years.
He explained that the new electricity law was meant to decentralise electricity distribution and give individuals opportunities to buy and sell electricity in the state soon.
In the area of security, Mbah said that the Security Trust Fund that was established was largely to help raise funds in support of the state government’s efforts on security.
Mbah, who also said his administration inherited arrears of pension both at the state and local government levels, noted that his government had cleared pension arrears at the state level.
According to him, an audit exercise is going on for the local government pensioners prior to settling the arrears.
In the area of infrastructure, the governor said his administration had awarded the construction of not less than 81 urban roads ongoing in the state.
“This is in addition to construction of at least 10km roads in all the 260 political wards in the state that is also underway,” he said.
He further said the education sector was receiving adequate attention as his government embarked on construction of 260 Smart Schools in all the wards in the state to provide free and quality education.
