VAT-Tussle: Kano Assembly Recommends Sack Of State’s Revenue Service Chairman

The Kano State House of Assembly has recommended the sack of AbduRazak Salihi, Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Services.

At a plenary session on Tuesday, the legislatures asked the state government to sack Salihi within 48 hours.

It could be recalled that the chairman was summoned by the state house of assembly on the heels of moves by Rivers and Lagos states to retain a collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) and the criticism that has been levelled against Kano for falling down the pecking order of states with high IGR despite its position as the country’s centre of commerce.

Justifying the recommendation of the house, the Speaker, Hamisu Chidari, said the conduct of the Chairman disheartened them to take such a decision.

He accused Sahili of failing to state in detail the State Revenue Collections despite series of pleas by the legislature.

The House also accused the KIRS Boss of conspiring with the executive arm without its knowledge to reduce tenement rates of the IPMAN from N250 to N100, which the house described as a total violation of the constitution.

The lawmakers agreed on the “non-performance of the Chairman in terms of revenue collection as well as lack of knowledge of what revenue is”.

The Speaker said the house has set up an eighth-men Committee to probe the agency under Salihi.

He listed the decline in revenue generation among the issues that will be probed.

The Revenue Chairman, who was visibly disturbed, could not provide enough reasons on why he bypassed the House on issues of revenue collections in the state and on the reduction of Ground Tenement Rates.

The eight-men committee, to be headed by the House Finance Chairman, Magaji Dahiru Zarewa, is due to submit its report within a month.