Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has ordered the Head of Service, Mrs. Deborah Ogunmola, to issue queries to those responsible for the controversial bread tax in Confluence State, including the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Usman A. Ibrahim.

Governor Bello announced this on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while fielding questions from State House reporters shortly after a brief meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The governor, who said his State had not introduced bread tax as being speculated, said those behind the purported law would soon be unmasked and punished accordingly.

The incident of bread tax in Kogi State is the most unfortunate infraction that any right-thinking human being would allow to fly. When I assumed office on 27th of January 2016, I inherited a decayed civil service and I embarked on massive reform of the civil service.

Before now, the civil servants in the state don’t follow the public service rules or the financial regulations. A similar incident happened within this period of COVID-19 where two Permanent Secretaries decided to take the laws into their hands and wrote a letter to worship centres, demanding that fumigation of the worship centres be paid for despite the fact that it was a service that Kogi State rendered free of charge and those Permanent Secretaries have since been dismissed form service.

The particular incident of bread tax is being looked into as I speak, we are investigating those that are behind this. It is evil and it is unaccepted to say the least.

I have ordered the Head of Service to issue queries to those that are responsible and they will face the law accordingly. This is a State that never locked down over COVID-19 but our economy was badly hit because all our neighbours; ten States, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) locked down.

If I didn’t lock down to subject my people to hardship, why should I because of tax or hardship impose additional hardship on them by paying bread tax?

If there is a way, I can even give tax holiday for some of our businesses, I will do that, not to tax bread. So, the Permanent Secretary concerned is facing disciplinary action and we are going to communicate to the world at the end of the day.

I never ordered that and I don’t think any senior member of my cabinet will order such,

Bello added.

If found guilty, the permanent secretary will be dismissed from the service of Kogi State government.

The concerned government official in the query was said to have caused a letter to be written on November 9th, 2020 and addressed to Master Bakers and Caters of Nigeria (AMBCN) Kogi state wing and introducing identical consulting company and levies on bread to all bakers doing business in the state.

Governor Bello, while speaking on the motive behind meeting, said he appealed for support in the areas of establishing an airport in Kogi as well as the dredging of River Niger up to Lokoja in order to boost the economy of the State and country at large.

He said the youth of the State were happy with President Buhari’s introduction of various social investment programmes aimed at eradicating poverty among Nigerians.

The governor announced that his administration had since launched a post COVID-19 relief package of over N1.56 billion for citizens of the State to cushion the effects of the pandemic.

He however restated that there was no COVID-19 in Kogi.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.