Bayelsa threatens to seal oil firms for tax evasion

The Bayelsa State Government has threatened to seal sites and premises of oil companies and oil servicing companies that default in its tax obligations to the state.
Felix Bonny Ayah, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Bayelsa State on Oil and Gas, made the government’s position known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.
Ayah said the government had informed oil firms that non-compliance with tax obligation was no longer tolerable.
The state government in May sealed a gas plant operated by Shell in Yenagoa over breach of development control levies.
Ayah, who spoke shortly after meeting with the ‎representatives of Shell Petroleum Development Company and Hi-long Limited at the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Yenegoa, regretted that oil firms were evading tax.
He said the major responsibility of the government was to ensure that the multinationals have a good working environment and a smooth drive in their operations.
He noted that the companies must reciprocate by ensuring that their responsibilities to the government were fulfilled by paying their tax.
A representative of Hi-long Limited had assured that their consultant would address the issues in no distant time
Governor Seriake Dickson had in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2016 complained of non-remittance of taxes to the state by International Oil Companies operating in Bayelsa State.
Ayah also informed the companies of his efforts to ensure that there was cordial relationship between the companies and the communities.
He also assured the companies of fairness in disputes between them and the communities.
NAN.