From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

Relief has come the way of customers as First Bank of Nigeria plc reopened all its branches for business throughout Kogi State yesterday, after one month of closure over none payment of tax crisis between the organisation and government.

Our correspondent reports that the seal off followed an order of a High Court in Lokoja, which ordered the closure of all branches of the bank in the state over the bank’s failure to remit N411.

DFAILY ASSET reporter who visited the Post Office area of Lokoja yesterday reports that many customers of the bank were seen transacting various businesses in the bank.

Commenting on the development in a telephone interview with our Correspondent, earlier, the Acting Executive Chairman, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, KGIRS, Alhaji Sule Salihu Enehe confirmed the reopening of the bank.

He said the development was due to the fact that, the bank had settled “some parentage” of the tax in question to the coffers of the state government.

Enehe added that the management of KGIRS also put into consideration, the fact that all had not been easy with the bank, in terms of conducting businesses as well as the effects of the seal off on its customers.

He, however, maintained that efforts were on to ensure that the bank pays all the taxes it owed the state government, pointing out that reconciliation process had commenced toward achieving that aim.

Our Correspondent recalls that Kogi State Government on September 13,2022, sealed-off all branches of First Bank in respond to court order.

Our Reporter learnt was sequel to a suit filed by the state government against the bank, seeking an order to recover the tax and was granted by the court and KGIRS swang into action to carry out with immediate effect.

Speaking with newsmen in his office, then, the Director, Legal Services of the KGIRS, Barrister Saidu I. Okino, recalled that the amount in question represents outstanding withholding tax from the bank’s mobile banking agents from 2015 to 2022.

He added that the Service took the decision due to the refusal of the bank to liquidate the liability, despite several demand notices to that effect.

Okino said that approaching the court was as a last resort, noting that all other measures to make the bank pay up proved abortive.

“Before we went to court, there was a Demand Notice to that effect, dated 12th day of October 2021 and signed by the then acting executive chairman, Abubakar Yusuf.

“We made several attempts we sent them a notice of the intention of the Service to take warrant of distrain so that we can do whatever is needful, on 25th day of February, 2022 but was ignored.

“On the 25th of August, 2022, Notice of Refusal to amend their liability was served on them.We did not on our own roll out our machineries to go and seal off,” he said.

He said that KGIRS had to approach the court through a motion ex-parte number HC/457M/202, dated August 29 and filed on August 30th, 2022 during it prayed the court for an order to execute warrant of distrain against the defendant by her goods, chattels, bonds, security or any other property.

The service, he added, also sought distrain upon the land, office, business premises or place of management of the defendant (First Bank Nigeria Limited)’s offices in Lokoja, Okene, Kabba, Ajaokuta and any other movable property of the defendant found within the jurisdiction of Kogi State.

The director said that the Board also sought “an order that the defendant bears the cost of executing the distrain in pursuance of section 104(5) of PITA and section 51(5) of the Kogi State Harmonized Tax Law, 2017, as accessed in the sum of N250,000 per site each day.”

The presiding judge, Justice Rukkayat Ayoola, in her ruling, according to Okino, granted all the reliefs sought in the motion ex-parte supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit and deposed to by Mohammed Ibrahim, a civil servant.

“The order for the defendant’s failure and or refusal to liquidate her debt to Kogi State Government in the sum of N411,120,966.77 being the outstanding tax liabilities owed the Kogi State Government for the years 2015 to 2020 is hereby granted,” Ayoola said.