Three banks in Akwa Ibom State were closed by the Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service for purportedly failing to remit outstanding tax dues of ₦228.6m to the state government.
The shutdown of the banks came on Thursday as part of an operation conducted by the board’s Enforcement and Recovery Department, following an order of Notice of Distrain issued by the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Eket Judicial Division.
The banks affected include two branches of Keystone Bank, one on Abak Road and the other on Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo, as well as Heritage Bank situated on Aka Road, Uyo.
Mr. Leo Umana, the board’s Executive Director of Enforcement and Recovery, informed journalists that Heritage Bank had neglected to remit its ₦100,270,910 tax dues to the state, while Keystone Bank’s tax liabilities totaled ₦128,413,882.
He mentioned that the board had issued notifications and exhausted all options for reconciliation and negotiation with the organizations before implementing the action.
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Umana further explained that as the banks had not remitted the taxes owed to the state despite the extended timeframe provided, the board had no alternative but to seek an ex parte order for revenue retrieval.
He noted that for the banks served the Notice of Distrain, under the law, they have 14 days to negotiate with AKIRS and vacate the order, adding that ‘If after 14 days, they do not comply, we have the mandate of the court to sell the property and recover the tax owed the state.’
He stressed that in the ongoing enforcement campaign, the revenue board is dedicated to recovering state government revenue, thereby contributing to the realization of its ARISE agenda.
The Warrant of Distrain earlier received from the High Court of Akwa Ibom in the Eket Judicial Division, signed by Justice Effiong Effiong, which orders that access to the bank premises and its facilities be restricted, read, ‘A Warrant of Distrain is hereby issued upon any land, premises, or place of business in respect of which the Respondent is the owner or occupier at 39 Abak Road, Uyo Akwa Ibom State in satisfaction of outstanding tax liability of N128, 413, 882.20 established against the respondent.’
‘A Warrant of Distrain is hereby issued upon any land, premises or place of business in respect of which the respondent is the owner or occupier at 41 Aka Road, Uyo Akwa Ibom State in satisfaction of outstanding Tax liability of N100, 270, 901.62 established against the respondent.’
As of the time of this report, attempts to obtain comments from the affected banks were unsuccessful.