Published By News Editor
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) have expressed concern over the shutting down of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State as a result of disputes arising from unusual taxes and levies by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS).
It warned that the shutdown could lead to total communications blackout in the entire Kogi State, parts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and states such as Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger, which share borders with Kogi State.
“This situation arises as a number of critical telecommunications sites belonging to our members have been closed and sealed up by Kogi State Government in an attempt to increase its Internally Generated Revenue IGR Collection.”
ALTON explained that the action followed an ex-parte order obtained by the KIRS over unsubstantiated allegations that its members are defaulting in tax payments to the state government and access to these critical telecom sites has been denied.
The group insisted that as a result of these actions by the state government, its members are unable to refuel power generators at these sites, a situation which has led to outage of over 70 sites including hub sites across parts of Kogi State, with likely impact on nine states.
We are very concerned that this indiscriminate action has the potential of further leading to a total telecommunications outage in Kogi State with neighboring states and parts of the Federal Capital Territory adversely impacted.
To the best of our knowledge, our members have settled all statutory levies and taxes due to the Kogi State Government and have taken necessary steps to comply with local laws that govern business activities within Kogi State.
These are charges described as: Annual Right of Way (ROW) renewal, Social Services contribution, Employee Economic Development Levy, Mast site premises renewal, Fire service yearly renewal,
Others are from the kogi State Environmental Protection Board on: Payment of environmental levy, Failure to submit an environmental impact assessment report; Failure to register industry; Failure to submit environmental audit report every 2 years; Storage of petroleum products and radioactive materials without written permission from KSEPB.