By Adeleye Kunle
Commercial drivers in Anambra State, led by the Main Market Electrical Drivers Welfare Association, MEDWAS, staged a peaceful protest yesterday against Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s proposed new monthly tax of N25,000.
The drivers began the demonstration as soon as MEDWAS chairman, Mr. Michael Mbele, informed them that arrangements had been made to begin enforcing the payment following a meeting with a team of state government officials from Awka.
“I did not issue the directive in my capacity,” Mbele says, “I only passed on the information handed down to me by a team of state government officials after talks on the new proposed tax rate.”
“As a driver, I also believe that the new N25,000 tax is excessive, and I am urging the state government to reconsider its implementation, which could result in even more hardship for drivers.”
The drivers, however, took to the streets to demand clarification from Governor Soludo, who had suspended the payment of any form of tax and levy until he recently announced the introduction of a digitalized payment system, which mandated them to pay N4,000 monthly to a private firm set up by the state government to collect tax on its behalf, according to a spokesman for the protesting drivers, Mr. Magnus Dike.
“When Soludo came into power, he warned us not to pay taxes or levies to anyone and also told us that a new tax rate of N4,000 every month under a new digitalized payment scheme, which we all agreed to, which we all agreed to, but we were shocked when our Chairman told us that, going forward, we will pay N25,000 a month.”
“The majority of us do not own the vehicles; we use a hire purchase scheme.” So, how do we pay the owners and feed our families? Please bring Soludo’s attention to our plight; we want to know if this new directive came from him via a reliable channel of communication, such as the newspaper or radio,” Dike said.
While praising the governor for his efforts thus far in restoring sanity on the roads, another driver, Mr Chuks Nnadozie, requested a reduction in the new tax due to the state’s bad roads.
“The roads are bad, the traffic situation is getting worse, and we are finding it difficult to make as many trips as we used to, so it’s critical that the government considers our challenges before imposing such an outrageous tax, which we cannot afford based on our daily income and expenses.”
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