Recession: Anambra state governor suspends taxes and levies on wheel barrow pushers, hawkers, others

As part of efforts to cushion the harsh effects of the current economic recession, the governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, yesterday, announced the immediate suspension of sale of emblems, collection of wheel barrow tax and hawkers permit in all parts of the state. Governor Obiano announced this in a broadcast entitled ‘Rising from the brink,’ yesterday September 21st.

He said his administration had lowered Okada and Keke levies to N50 and N200 daily respectively to cushion the effect of the recession.

“I am happy to announce to you that I have come up with a stimulus package that will ease the pain of the recession and help our dear state bounce back to prosperity. I want to assure you that the government of Anambra State is fully aware of the difficulties you are going through in your families, in your businesses and in your various communities . I wish to assure you that you are not alone. I feel your pain. Our country’s painful journey into the current recession is fairly known to us. The events that triggered this decline are very well documented in the public domain. I wish to assure you that after a careful study of the situation,I am more convinced now than ever before that with our fundamentals, our infinite capacity to come back from deficits and our implicit faith in God, our story should be different in Anambra State.  

Consequently, our intervention which comes in four key areas which are tax relief programme, special intervention programmes for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Large Enterprises, social intervention programme for low income households and intervention in infrastructure-for-jobs. The objective of the tax relief programme is to evaluate existing taxes, levies and fees in the state and introduce some waivers and in some cases, scrap the collection of some illegal levies imposed on our people to cushion the impact of the recession on households in the state. Next is the special intervention programme for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and large enterprises. This sector of the economy accounts for over 800,000 jobs in Anambra State today. These businesses are suffering from the acute drop in the supply of foreign exchange at the moment and are left with two options; scale down their operations or shut down completely. My role as your governor is to envisage challenges and provide solutions that will ensure a speedy comeback from difficult situations that require the power and might of a state government.  

This is what my administration has done in the past two years through Anambra Small Business Agency. This agency is a very important institution I created to serve as a catalyst to our domestic economy. So far, ASBA has effectively distributed the sum of N1.5bn as start-up capital to many SMEs and MSMEs in Anambra State. These funds are part of the N2bn that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, made available to states about two years ago to help stimulate local entrepreneurship across the country.”he said