Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has warned that tax
defaulters in the state risk prison sentences, saying government will no longer
treat them with kid gloves.

Oshiomhole, who gave the warning in Benin at the plenary of
the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) held at the St. Mathews Anglican
Cathedral said that while the poor and low-income earners were willing to pay
their taxes, those who could easily afford to pay preferred to flout the tax
law.

“In Edo, we have tried to emphasise that we must reinvent
the concept of tax. We must properly manage the taxpayers’ money.

“Today, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) is
on strike over the issue of tax. The tax issue is a federal law not made by me.

“Those people who believe that because they are working in
sensitive places is an excuse to evade tax need a rethink.

“If a sick person is brought to the hospital, the fact of
his being sick does not preclude the person from paying for his treatment,’’ he
said.

Oshiomhole noted that he had on some occasions paid the
medical bills of indigent patients at the UBTH, who were treated but were not
discharged because they were unable to settle their bills.

“If you can detain the poor on account of being unable to
pay for his treatment, who are you not to pay tax?

“We have also at one point sealed the PHCN and PPMC offices
for tax evasion.

If motor mechanic and Okoda rider pay their tax, then, there
is no reason why a federal agency would think that because they come from
Abuja, they would not pay their tax.

“It is very fashionable in Nigeria for people to spend N50
million on weddings, N100 million on birthdays and even much more to celebrate
the dead.

“But for such persons, to pay even five per cent as tax, he
is not ready to pay.

“In such a situation, it is better to send them to prison,
just to remind them that the prison is not meant for only the poor. The prison
is meant for those who break the law.’’

He expressed regrets that 52 years after independence, the
people were getting poorer and attributed this to the quality or absence of
good governance.

According to him, the state must create good environment for
the people to operate. If the politicians try to divert attention, the church
must stand on the side of truth.

“In Edo State, we have tried our best, first to regain our
self-confidence that Edo State is viable, and we have made some modest efforts
to halt the drift and restore hope.

“But what we have done is nothing compared to what we need
to do to get to the level that we deserve.’’

Earlier, the Chairman of the state chapter of CAN, Rt. Rev.
Peter Imasuen, said that 2012 plenary was tagged: “Fostering Good Governance”.

“Good governance is all about accountability and
transparency. Despite increasing democracy and stability in sub-Saharan Africa,
corruption and conflict remain serious barriers to ending extreme poverty,’’ he
said, adding that the nation’s multifarious woes were effects of bad governance
over the years.