Members of the “Like Minds Alliance Pressure Group”, Kogi State Chapter has urge MTN telecommunication to comply with Kogi government as residents are lamenting the excruciating pains cause by the Network Service Providers.
In an interactive session with political pundits at Liberty Hotels Lokoja, today Sunday 27/4/2025, the National Coordinator ,”Like Minds Alliance Pressure Group”, Chief Richard Asaje urged Kogi State government to define taxes for service providers in the state now and should ensure that MTN Telecom pays all acrue tax debits between 2019 – 2024.
Recalled that the epileptic services from the MTN telecom providers came to its highest on Tuesday, April 22, when the state government shut down all the MTN bases in the state.
According to Chief Asaje, the State government has shut down the facilities of MTN telecommunication in the state for allegedly failure to comply with its tax obligation and related matters.. A foreign company should not be encouraged to operate in Nigeria and in our dear kogi state free of charge.., MTN Nigeria failure to honor the rules and regulations bothering on tax obligation is unfair and not encouraging, he said.
Speaking further, he commended the efforts of the Chairman of Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), and the Director General Kogi State Utilities Infrastructure Management Compliance Agency (KUIMCA) ,HE Taofiq ldah for proactive actions to find a lasting solution to the menace..
Recall that kogi government met with the management MTN telecom in October last year to resolve the grey areas over the verification exercise.
He therefore advise MTN service providers in the state to comply with kogi government and to accept the result of the verification exercise on the fibre kilometer way conducted by the state government to determine its actual tax obligation, as other service providers, Airtel and Glo accepted, complied and effected settlement.
We appreciated MTN telecommunication service provider that started operation 2003, but for a fact that the telecommunication outfit is owing relatively the sum of N1. 3b , covering the year 2019 to 2024 period is disheartening and should be corrected.he said.
To Chief Asaje and the entire members of the “Like Minds Alliance Pressure Group”, the decision of the government is not in haste as viewed by some quarters , though the negative impact on the people is sad and unfortunate that this problem lingers.
The environment in the state is not encouraging for business even as it is expected that the service providers ought to pay their taxes. The revenue war has grounded businesses and paralyzed social – economic activities in the state,he added.
At “Like Minds Alliance Pressure Group”,we are strongly in support of the state action in ensuring fairness since Airtel and Glo were verified, and they accepted and made payment.
Once again,we say a big thank you to the “Atu llu-se of Igbaraku kingdom,in person of Alhaji Taofik , the Director General Kogi State Utilities Infrastructure Management Compliance Agency(KUIMCA) and the Chairman of Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), we are proud of you all.
MTN Nigeria must comply with its statutory terms and conditions before it can resume full operation in the state, the group opined.
Finally, Chief Asaje implore residents of the state to be patient with the government as necessary attention is being taken to find a lasting solution to the issue.
Signed:
Secretary,”Like Minds Alliance Pressure Group”,Kogi State Chapter
