Imo hoteliers hail Uzodimma’s ban on revenue consultants

The Imo Hoteliers Association has hailed Gov. Hope Uzodimma’s ban on the use of revenue consultants for tax collection in the state. The Association’s Chairman, Mr Chima Chukwunyere, said this when he addressed newsmen in Owerri on Monday. Chukwunyere said the ban would help curb multiple taxation, which he described as an illegality.

He called on Uzodimma to enforce the ban by taking holistic measures. He said the ban was long overdue to save hotel owners from embarrassment from revenue touts parading themselves as the government’s revenue consultants. He thanked the governor for ordering the arrest and prosecution of one of the touts, Mr Charles Okpala, who had hitherto used his position as a senior management officer of the state’s Internal Revenue Service to extort hoteliers in the guise of revenue collection.

He urged the governor to enforce the ban to prevent touts from further bringing disrepute to the state government. He also urged the governor to put the necessary mechanism in place to protect the hotels in Imo, as the hotels were the second largest employers of labor in the state, after the government. (NAN)