Winifred Bosa.

The Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) has sealed off the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi over non remittance of Personal Income Tax amounting to about N2.3bn.

The Chairman of the Board, Mrs. Mimi Adzape-Orubibi said the State Revenue Board took the step after the university failed to respond to several attempts to clear the outstanding of the Personal Income Tax from 2007 to 2011.

The team led by Mrs Adzape-Orubibi, particularly sealed off the offices of the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and the University Bursar.

”The internal revenue service got an interim order from the court to restrain the university  because it failed to deduct PAYE tax in some cases or deducted less in other cases. The institution would now have to pay almost N3bn, inclusive of penalties and interest,” she stated.

Government and education
According to her, Benue State Government is very passionate about education, as the decision to picket the institution became necessary owing to its continued tax evasion.

In a swift reaction however, the institution’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted that PAYE was deducted monthly from staff salaries.

ASUU alleged that it suspected connivance between the state revenue board and the university authorities not to remit taxes already deducted from staff thereby denying it access to tax clearance certificate.

The Acting Chairman of ASUU, Mr. Bemgba Anjembe described the move as a ‘fraudulent attempt’ to commence another round of illegal deductions from the salaries of its members, a situation which might instigate crisis in the university.

“On August 27, 2014, BIRS wrote a letter to the VC in which it informed that the university was owing BIRS tax liability due to the failure to deduct PAYE tax to the tune of over N2bn.

“That was their claim, but we don’t agree with that figure. The university is not a business outfit but a social service institution. This is fraud,” he added.

The students of the university had besieged the state revenue office to protest the closure of their institution.