By Oluwatosin Maliki
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has acted on the Akwa Ibom State Government’s order to close down three banks, which allegedly failed to remit outstanding tax liabilities of N228 million to the state government.
The closure of these banks took place on a Thursday, as part of an operation conducted by the Revenue Board’s Enforcement and Recovery Department, following the issuance of a Notice of Distrain by the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Eket Judicial Division.
The affected banks include two branches of Keystone Bank, situated at Abak Road and Ikot Ekpene Road in Uyo, as well as Heritage Bank, located on Aka Road, Uyo.
Addressing the press in Uyo, Leo Umana, the Executive Director of the board’s Enforcement and Recovery, explained that Heritage Bank failed to remit N100,270,910 in tax liabilities to the state. Similarly, Keystone Bank neglected to pay the N128,413,882 it owed the state government in tax liabilities.
Furthermore, the Executive Director stated, “If, after 14 days, they do not comply, we have the court’s mandate to sell the property and recover the taxes owed to the state.”
Leo emphasized that the banks had received warning notices but failed to adhere to the directives even after several months. He added that the AKIRS had explored all avenues for reconciliation and negotiation with the financial institutions before resorting to legal action.
Additionally, he noted that, according to the law, the banks served with the distrain notice have a mere 14 days to engage in negotiations with AKIRS and lift the order.