Beneath the accolades, commendation and recognition that has greeted Kogi State Internal Revenue Service in the past few years lies a tone of dirt, sharp practices, nepotism, lack of staff motivation and outright fraud, according to the copy of documents obtained by the OBSERVERS TIMES.
The unimaginable fraud, injustice and depravity going on at Kogi State Internal Revenue Service by the Executive Chairman and the Entire Directors will set the stage for a ticking time bomb if the State Government did not intervene.
OBSERVERS TIMES can authoritatively confirms that the Delegated Revenue Officers across the Area Tax offices within the state held an emergency meeting on Saturday 1st, 2020.
During the meeting, they concluded that if they are not swiftly attended to; they will collectively take drastic action that will affect revenue generation in the state.
One of the Revenue officers furiously stated that; “we are not happy with our take home as basic salary. We are not motivated at all, the salary difference between a Revenue Officer and that of Assistant Manager is outrageously unfair, I wonder where they got that template from” The management says they used year of graduation and service year as yardstick for upgrading some Revenue Officers to Assistant Managers, but I can confidently tell you that they are some staffs that graduated 2015 and 2016 that are Assitant Managers, this is wickedness and also, how can management employ some staffs last year without tax experience and made them Assitant Managers at the detriment of Revenue Officers that have been with KGIRS since 3 years of inception? It’s unheard of, he concluded.
According to evidential findings;
Revenue Officers do the bulk of tax drive that always boost the monthly revenue generation yet, their take home is pathetically low if compare with that of other states Internal Revenue Service.
They further reviewed that;
Since the appointment of the Executive Chairman, Mr. Aliyu Inda Salami they have been untold story of fraud, nepotism, financial misappropriation/embezzlement and willful ignorance to staff welfare.
The Excutive Chairman frivolously award contracts to his family members and also the high percentage of revenue generated from haulage and produce are not remitted into KGIRS account, rather it goes into individuals account, the amount runs into a billion and above.
The executive chairman gives out employment letters to friends and families on a monthly basis yet, he always lamented on how funds are insufficient to review the salary of the revenue officers.
Some revenue officers have been in the service for over three years, no promotion, no salary review and he keeps employing people, placing them on level 10, 12 and above without tax or working experience.
One Hafsat Sulieman, the wife of the chief security officer to the Executive Governor of Kogi State who was retained after her NYSC at KGIRS in 2019 had her appointment reviewed from Revenue Officer 2 to Assistant Manager, this is not done anywhere, this is unfair. Is it a crime that we are not married to the Chief Security Officer to the Governor?
The Executive Chairman in December 2018, approved the sum of Twenty Six Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only N26,500,000 for the purchase of rice that should be distributed among staffs, to our dismay it was thirteen Revenue Officers to a bag of rice and if that money would have been distributed evenly it would have been Tweety Five Thousand Naira per staff.
Early last year, the executive chairman approved the contract of portraits production to his cousin, Hon Mukhtar Bajeh (Chief Wip)KSHA member at a mouth watering sum of Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N 7,800,000). By all standard, the total number of portraits delivered is not worth Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000)
The executive chairman employed a 2015 graduate (HND) and placed him on level 14.
The executive chairman gave contract for construction of sign post standing in front of revenue house for the sum of Six Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira, (N6, 800,000) which Five Hundred Thousand Naira will bring out a more better and befitting one.
During the last year yuletide, the executive chairman approved contract for purchase of Hampers for just fourteen management staffs at the cost of Ten Million Naira Only (N10,000,000).
In collaboration with KOTRAMA and KGIRS, the Executive Chairman approved contract for Patching of pot holes from Cinema junction to Lokoja club, it is less than 500 metres, the contract was awarded at the sum of Twenty Five Million Naira Only, (N25, 000, 000)
The executive chairman gave out contract for KGIRS assets Labelling for Ten Million Naira Only, this can be neatly done with Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only.
Renovation of Lokoja one Area Office was done by our amiable Chairman with a whopping sum of Twelve Million Naira Only, Five Million Naira will bring out something better.
Contract for the Supply of fire extinguisher to KGIRS was given to our chairman’s father while he also approved the contract for the supply of water dispensers to his younger brother.
The new idea derived by the Chairman and his incompetent Directors to loot funds now is engaging of consultants to drive 90% of all revenue items that the staffs of the organization are driving. Consultants are paid at the end of every month with percentage of generation from the revenue items given to them.
Despite the fraud and embezzlement of funds perpetrating by the Executive Chairman since the inception of his appointment in December 2018, there have been progressive increase in revenue generation all through 2019 and it also implies increase in the 10% withdrawal by KGIRS from the total monthly generation that is used for payment of salary and other overheads.
In 2018, the total revenue generated is Eleven Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty Four Million, One Hundred Thirteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Forty Three Naira Only (N11,334,113,743) and in
2019, the total revenue generated is Sixteen Billion, Three Hundred and Eighty Nine Million,Twenty Six Thousand, Three Hundred and Eighty Eight Naira Only (N16,389,026,388)
From January to December 2019, there is over Five Billion Naira increase in revenue generation to what was generated 2018,
These simply indicate that over Five Hundred Million Naira addition to the organization 10%, Yet we keep hearing the same story from the Chairman that no sufficient funds to bridge the gap in the earning of revenue officers and assistant managers but he keeps giving out appointment letter to his cronies.
Our Directors and some Heads of Directorates are culpable in this whole funds embezzlement and misappropriation, in earnest we shall bring to the fore frauds committed by the following Directors :
Mr Bunmi (PIT).
Mr. Fatai (Reconciliation)
Alh. Sule Salihu Enehe (Tax audit)
Mrs Hassana Salau (HR)
Alh.Ohindase (Finance).
Mr. Isa Jamil (Legal).
Mr. Akande Alex (Road Tax).
Mr. Alex(Local Gvt Collection)
Mr. Emma (Internal Audit).
We profusely call on the state Government to look into the plight of the revenue officers, stagnated mode of organizational structure in KGIRS, and above all, the uncommon kind of corruption perpetrating by the Executive Chairman and some of the directors.
It is so frustrating that in an organization as big as KGIRS there is no career progression. Non of the employees can tell what will be his or her position in the next five years.
We also appeal to the State Government to study and make a candid judgement as regards disparity in the salary of KGIRS staffs.
Revenue Officer 2 (level 8) — N59,000.
Revenue Officer 1 (level 9)— N75,000.
Assistant Manager (level 10)— N175,000.
Deputy Manager (level 12) — N184,000.
They representative of Revenue Officers concluded by saying “they have esteem regards for the State Government hence their resolve to keep mute for this long and if nothing is done then, the bomb will have its final tick”
