Abolish Tax on Produce - Ben Ayade Amidst Tears Challenged State Governors to Help Low-income Business Owners in Nigeria

HE Ben Ayade charged the newly inaugaurated Anti-Agency with the responsibility to put an end to illegal taxes on people in the state. This singular gestures become necessary at the wake of illegal checking points mounted everyday, everywhere in the state with a common attitude of  oppression, humiliation on tax offenders particularly the small scale  business owners being dragged here and there, property ceased from them without defense.

Below is extract taken from th Governors  post COVID-19 relief statement amidst tears.

" We have a tax law that prescribed those who are exempted from tax. All those categories of people and those that from time to time may be so announced by the Governor including;

1. every single hotel that has less than 50 rooms in Calabar and in the whole state. Today I exempt them from  payment of tax (clap)

2. We have exempted all Commercial Motor Cycle Riders,  Okada drivers

3. Taxi drivers, Airport taxi drivers

4. We have exempted small scale saloon business owners

5. Catering and Restaurant points, “mama puts”, eatery points

6. All those small basic survival..selling of produce struggling to make a living . 

We exempted them because it is better for me as a governor that I would rather tax my brain than to tax my people. 

As Great Cross Riverians, you have the right for any body who comes before you to demand tax. You have the right to say stop; the Governor have said we should not pay tax. 

Why will a small person carrying banana from his farm to go and sell and produce people are there taxing it for produce?

Why will somebody carrying ground but to the market and somebody is putting a checkpoint on the road and collecting money from the ground but seller?

This is not Ben Ayade. This is not my nature. I am not wired for this insensitivity to a weaker person. 

I have abolished produce tax. Let farmers earn their money, keep their money. Because you didn’t give them incentives, fertilizers, irrigation.. Prepare the soil for them. You did not do the land clearing for them.

Why do you want to tax them?

Why do you put pressure on that your small brother or sister whose situations is much worse ?

Why would we expect the people who don’t have scholarship for their children , good school...struggle to have security in their small business struggle to get water with their boreholes, struggle with generator? And government is providing almost nothing back to such people and tax them.

HE Ben Ayade Governor Cross Rivers State weeps over tax burden on low-income earners

https://youtu.be/iGg-n5MtKN8