Admiral Samuel Alade, Commandant, National Defence College (left) and Governor Adams Oshiomhole during a visit of participants of the National Defence College, Course 24 to the Governor in his office.
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has identified courage, will and fairness as indices that should be used in collecting taxes for developmental purposes.
He made the clarification when the leadership and members of Course 24 of the National Defence College paid him a courtesy visit in Benin City yesterday.
Governor said “Tax must be paid. We are not contesting that. They must be paid by all”, stressing that at the inception of his administration, it was discovered that some of the civil servants were not paying tax and that it was also found that the three arms of government were guilty of it hence he had to ensure that everybody pays tax starting with the executive arm.
“A progressive government would ensure that taxes are paid but it would be structured in such a way the rich would pay more and the poor pays less. It is the tax collected that would be used for a robust social safety net” he said.
On security, he said “security is number one and every other thing can follow. Once you compromise security, nothing else is going to work”, adding that no investor would come to a place of threat. The Governor therefore commended the armed forces for their effort at combating insurgency in Nigeria.
