Ruth Oginyi
Professor Bernard Odoh, the All Progressives Grand. Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in the 2023 general election and former Secretary to Ebonyi State Government, Wednesday decry high taxation in the state.
He said the high taxation leveled on private business owners is affecting the economic development of the state.
Odoh spoke in Abakaliki Ebonyi State, southeast Nigeria on Wednesday while unveiling his running mate for the election.
He said the high taxation was scarring business investors out of the state.
Odoh, a professor of geophysics explained that because investors are running away from the state, there is an increase in unemployment and crime-related issues.
He however promised to address the anomalies if he comes in as the state governor in May 2023.
The 2023 Governorship hopeful who unveiled Dr. Nkata Chuku as his running mate for the 2023 governorship election, further said that many businesses have shut down in the state because of multiple taxations from the state government.
According to him, Ebonyi state was ranked 34 out of 36 states as states that are hostile to businesses.
Odoh said “Ebonyi is hostile to business,
Taxation in Ebonyi is terrible private investors can not survive in such an environment.
In his words, “in ease of doing business, we are ranked 34 out of 36 states which means this environment is very hostile to business. We must make Ebonyi State rank among the top states in the country in ease of doing business. That way, investors will begin to come into Ebonyi.
“Last night, we passed through Onwe road to Mile 50 and the entire city was shut down, there is no economy here once it is 6:pm.
“The taxation here is terrible, many people are no longer comfortable in doing business in Ebonyi, and many businesses have closed. We must balance the taxes with the incentives to business owners. If we don’t encourage SMEs and doing businesses, doing business here with less harassment, and less taxation, we cannot play host to business owners and if we can’t play host to business owners, investment here will continue to diminish and once investment diminishes, we cannot take them to our young people. So, we are committed to reversing that trend”.
To journalists in the state, prof Odoh said, “2023, we believe that we are in a moment that requires extraordinary thinking So I urge the media to use their platforms to shape the minds of the electorate to vote wisely during the election.
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