The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, on Tuesday, abolished some levies and taxes in the state to cushion the effect of the economic downtown on the people.
This was contained in his special broadcast to the people of the state.
“Following the formal announcement by the Federal Government that the nation’s economy has gone into a recession, I consider it my duty, as your governor, to distil the message of the economic situation of the country down to the grassroots.
“Following this development too, I am happy to announce to you that I have come up with a stimulus package that will ease the pain of the recession and help our dear state bounce back to prosperity.
“Brothers and sisters, our country’s painful journey into the current recession is fairly known to us.
“The events that triggered this decline are very well documented in the public domain.
“So, I will not go through the details of how we arrived where we are.
“I wish to assure you that after a careful study of the situation, I am more convinced now than ever before that with our fundamentals, our infinite capacity to come back from deficits and our implicit faith in God, our story should be different in Anambra State.”
He said the state’s intervention would come in four key areas.
In the area of tax relief programme, for example, he said, “Special Intervention Programmes (would be) for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Large Enterprises.”
The governor said the objective of his Tax Relief Programme was to evaluate existing taxes, levies and fees in the state and introduce some waivers, and in some cases, scrap the collection of some illegal levies imposed on the people.
He said these would go a long way to cushion the impact of the recession on households in the state.
The text read in part, “I hereby suspend the sale of consolidated emblems in Anambra State.
“I suspend the collection of Hawkers Permit on all streets in the state.
“I suspend the collection of Wheelbarrow Tax in all markets in the state.
“Lastly, I abolish the imposition of unapproved levies on students in public primary and secondary schools in the state.
“All these pronouncements shall take immediate effect.”
He said the state would do these as the governor’s role “is to envisage challenges and provide solutions that will ensure a speedy comeback from difficult situations that require the power and might of a state government.”
The governor said that his agricultural policy and various other intervention measures would sustain hope and life for his people in the prevailing hard economic situation.
