From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, Samuel Nwanosike, has vowed to end all forms of revenue touting and double taxation of business owners in the area.
Nwanosike stated this during a revenue summit on Investment Promotion, Business Growth and Revenue Generation in the area held at Isiokpo, the council headquarters.
The council boss stated that the workshop was important, to enlighten business owners in the area on the need for a cordial relationship with the government of the third tier.
He said: “As a government when we took over in 2018, we told our people that we want to run a government that is based on the rule of law. So, we engaged the first-ever Ikwerre Local Government revenue summit, where we had experts talk to us on what we need to know to better our lots as business owners in the LGA.
“The whole idea of today’s meeting is to carry out an assessment of what we have achieved from the 2018 revenue summit and what we should do better.
“So, we want to reeducate our people who do not understand the legal provisions of how to do business and the relationship with the government of the third tier.
“We want to stop the issue of revenue touting, double taxation, harassment of business owners in Ikwerre Local Government Area in particular.
“It will be a thing of joy and pride that we will be the catalyst that will trigger the chemical reaction in bettering governance in the third tier”.
Speaking, a former director, University of Port Harcourt Business School, Prof. Okey Onochukwu, said indigenes must accept investors in their domain as well as promote peace and security, in order for the investment to thrive there.
Onochukwu, while delivering a lecture entitled ‘Investment Promotion Strategy in Local Government System’, urged wealthy indigenes to invest in their communities, rather than only building factories and industries in Lagos and Abuja.
The lecturer, who is of the Department of Economics, University of Port Harcourt, commended the council authority for organizing the submit, describing it as a good step in the right direction.
He noted: “For investments to come, there must be peace and security, good access road network, elimination of double and illegal taxation, acceptance of investors by indigenes, tax holiday and waivers, wooing of wealthy indigenes to invest in the LGA”.