EDO PLANS REVENUE COURT TO TRY TAX EVADERS. (PHOTO).

 Edo plans revenue court to try tax evaders

The Edo State Government has announced plans to establish a revenue court that will specifically handle cases of tax evasion and other revenue-related offences.

The move was disclosed at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Edo State Inland Revenue Service in Benin on Tuesday, which brought together top government officials and representatives of ministries, departments, and agencies.

The state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Samson Osagie, said his ministry is already working on a draft Revenue Court Law, using Delta State’s model as a guide.

“There is a need for a Revenue Court Law that will see to the setting up of a specific court to try offenders,” Osagie said.

“The whole idea is to ensure that our tax system is strengthened in a way that makes enforcement and prosecution of tax offenders fast and easy.”

He noted that Edo had been losing revenue to Delta due to boundary and settlement issues, stressing that although meetings had been held with adjustments proposed, the National Boundary Commission must ratify the boundaries to curb further losses.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency, Stainless Ijeghede, lamented that oil workers in communities like Oben still had their taxes deducted and paid to Delta despite working in Edo.

“When I was working at that place, at the end of the month, I saw in my pay slip that the tax was paid to Delta. What that means is that those who work in Oben pay tax to the Delta State Government,” he said.

In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of EIRS, ‘Nidu Bankole-Balogun, said the state was already improving its revenue collection but needed full cooperation from stakeholders to increase its Internally Generated Revenue.

He highlighted the adoption of a Single Treasury Account as a major step towards eliminating leakages, ensuring transparency, and improving accountability.

“Revenue is not an end in itself. It’s a means to enable the state to provide better roads, stronger health systems, vibrant education, and safer communities,” he said.