Anambra Revenue House crisis tears stakeholders apart
BY RAYMOND OZOJI, Awka
The Anambra Revenue House being submerged in supremacy tussle has left stakeholders in Anambra in division as they have aired conflicting views.
On his part, the Executive Director in charge of Operations in the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), Dr. Christian Madubuko has debunked in totality the allegations by Comrade Osita Obi, the Convener, Recover Nigeria Project and Movement for the Conduct of Local Government Elections in Anambra State, that the Revenue House has been submerged with supremacy tussle.
It would be recalled that the said Osita Obi had claimed in some sections of the media that Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo made a fatal mistake by creating Executive Directors in the State Board of Internal Revenue that are not answerable to the Chairman.
Osita Obi claimed that the creation of Executive Directors plunged the Revenue House into an unending crisis such that the Executive Directors now take unilateral decisions, thereby reducing the Chairman to a mere figure head.
But Madubuko in an exclusive interview with our correspondent said no such thing ever existed in the Revenue House.
He mentioned that the agency is in order and all Executive Directors report directly to the Chairman of the Board.
Madubuko who described Osita Obi as a rumour monger, said he is taking him to the cleaners because his rumours sting like the stench from public latrine.
Madubuko said it is a very callous and stupid insinuation by Osita Obi because according to him, the latter does not know anything about revenue generation.
He said, “These are the people who go about insinuating that there is crisis in the Revenue House. There is no crisis in the Revenue House. We have a Chairman and every Executive Director report directly to the Chairman and Dr. Greg Ezeilo is our Chairman.
“There is no crisis in the Revenue House for God’s sake and there is no leadership tussle anywhere. I can confirm to you that there is no differences anywhere in the Revenue House. People should stop ‘porknosing’ into where they have no business.
“There is no war anywhere in the Revenue House and Governor Soludo has not made any mistake by creating Executive Directorship office because it is to enhance the revenue generation of the State.
“I look at that as a very stupid comment by anyone. They should not drag the governor into unnecessary issues or drag any of the Executive Directors into unnecessary issues.
“We are working as a team and one of us has been elevated to the Chairman of the Board and we report to him. Our Chairman now is Dr. Greg Ezeilo and we work together as a team to advance revenue generation of the State. So, people should say what they know and not what they don’t know.”
Osita Obi had accused Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of allegedly being responsible for the crisis, submerging the top management of the State Revenue House.
Obi who made his opinion known in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, explained that it was absolutely wrong for the governor to create Executive Directors in the Board of Internal Revenue that reported directly to him where a Chairman existed.
He said that the development has created conflict of interest and duplication of duties, such that the Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service is now a ceremonial head because according to him, the Executive Directors especially those in charge of revenue enforcement now take unilateral decisions without recourse to the office of the Chairman.
Obi said, “The governor made a mistake in the first place. There is nothing like Executive Director. When you appoint a Chairman, you crystal him as the Executive Chairman.
“Then if the Chairman feels that he can hire people that will man the zonal levels to give him what he wants, he can hire some people that will be answerable to him. But when you bring people as Executive Directors that report directly to the governor and does not report to the Chairman, you are creating crisis there.
“I think what is happening in the Revenue House is solely the governor’s problem and he has a responsibility to make it work. The governor made a mistake by creating Executive Directors that are not answerable to the Chairman.
“Take the case of Dr. Christian Madubuko, the governor made him the Executive Director in charge of enforcement; so does he need permission from the Chairman to go for enforcement? To me the answer is no.
“The governor gave him that responsibility. So, the governor made the mistake and it is only him that can correct the mistake,” he said.
