The Kogi State government said the shutting down of some Telecom
facilities operating across the state was based on adherence to court
orders. The Director of Legal and Enforcement, Kogi State Internal
Revenue Service (KGIRS), Barrister Jamil Isah Abdullah disclosed this in
Lokoja on Wednesday night while speaking with newsmen over the shutting
down of MTN and Airtel facilities in the state. He noted that KGIRS
has since inception of the present administration, invited the telecom
service providers for dialogue on the modality for the payment of the
levy, but they refused to honour the invitations. He pointed out that
based on the refusal, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS)
proceeded to Court in accordance with provisions of the law and obtained
an order to shut the business premises of Airtel and MTN to recover the
sum owed. “The major telecoms affected for now are MTN and Airtel. The
sites that have been shut for Airtel are just 5 while MTN is 4. So the
150 mentioned on the online news is incorrect.The demanded levies, rents
and fees are also not illegal. In the case of Airtel, they have not
paid their Right of Way permit fees which allows them to lay fibre optic
cables in Kogi State. This payment has been due and owed since 2016.
There are outstanding yearly rents payable on the Right of Way Permits
for the year 2016 to 2018. There is also the Annual Social Service
Development Levy and the Annual Employee Economic Development Levy.
Penalty for failure to pay all these are included”, he noted. He added
that all the payments were by virtue of a law in Kogi State which was
duly passed by the Kogi state House of Assembly. He, however, revealed
that one of the telecom service providers had come to the negotiating
table to pay what was due, stressing that the other still remained
recalcitrant and engaged hoodlums to refuel their facilities in the
night, an action which he described to be against the law.The post Why we shut down some telecom facilities -Kogi State government explains.Why we shut down some telecom facilities - Kogi State government explains
The Kogi State government said the shutting down of some Telecom
facilities operating across the state was based on adherence to court
orders. The Director of Legal and Enforcement, Kogi State Internal
Revenue Service (KGIRS), Barrister Jamil Isah Abdullah disclosed this in
Lokoja on Wednesday night while speaking with newsmen over the shutting
down of MTN and Airtel facilities in the state. He noted that KGIRS
has since inception of the present administration, invited the telecom
service providers for dialogue on the modality for the payment of the
levy, but they refused to honour the invitations. He pointed out that
based on the refusal, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS)
proceeded to Court in accordance with provisions of the law and obtained
an order to shut the business premises of Airtel and MTN to recover the
sum owed. “The major telecoms affected for now are MTN and Airtel. The
sites that have been shut for Airtel are just 5 while MTN is 4. So the
150 mentioned on the online news is incorrect.The demanded levies, rents
and fees are also not illegal. In the case of Airtel, they have not
paid their Right of Way permit fees which allows them to lay fibre optic
cables in Kogi State. This payment has been due and owed since 2016.
There are outstanding yearly rents payable on the Right of Way Permits
for the year 2016 to 2018. There is also the Annual Social Service
Development Levy and the Annual Employee Economic Development Levy.
Penalty for failure to pay all these are included”, he noted. He added
that all the payments were by virtue of a law in Kogi State which was
duly passed by the Kogi state House of Assembly. He, however, revealed
that one of the telecom service providers had come to the negotiating
table to pay what was due, stressing that the other still remained
recalcitrant and engaged hoodlums to refuel their facilities in the
night, an action which he described to be against the law.The post Why we shut down some telecom facilities -Kogi State government explains.
