House approves Okowa’s request to recover stamp duties from FG

The Delta House of Assembly on  Tuesday approved Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa’s request to formally approach the Federal Government for the refund of backlog of stamp duties between January 2015 and December 2022.

The approval followed a motion by the Majority Leader, Mr Ferguson Onwo, during the plenary session presided over by Deputy Speaker Christopher Ochor.

Okowa had in a letter to the assembly asked for approval to submit relevant documents to the Governors’ Forum, on or before Wednesday, April 12, 2023.

The letter read in part: “The necessary documents to be submitted by the respective state governments regarding the Stamp Duties Recovery and Refund are a letter of consent from the deduction of consultancy fee at source, Resolutions/Approval of the State Executive Council and Resolution of the State House of Assembly.

“I wish to take the advantage of the window of opportunity, by actively pursuing the process of accessing funds which had hitherto been denied the state, which can be utilised for the significant developmental projects by the state.”

After the letter was read, the majority leader moved a motion for the approval of the request.

The Minority Leader, Mr Innocent Anidi, seconded the motion.

The motion was unanimously adopted by the members, when it was put to a voice vote by the deputy speaker.