The Chairman appointed by the Gombe Government to head the state’s Revenue Recovery Tribunal, Muhammad Tukur Jungudo, has praised Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya’s foresight in establishing the tribunal which has so far recovered close to N19b revenue within one year.
According to Tukur Jungudo, the tribunal was able to achieve an unprecedented feat in revenue recovery because the determination and commitment deployed by the State Government towards the tribunal boosted it into doubling the revenue from N10.6 to about N19b.
He explained during the commemoration of one year anniversary of the tribunal that the revenue of Gombe State had risen in high bounds which shows that from October to December 2022, the revenue had risen to N6.6 billion and also from January to September 2023 to N12 billion.
According to him, the tribunal was established on the 5th of October 2022 with the mandate to recover government’s revenues from companies and individuals of which the tribunal had gone a long way in achieving that.
He noted that the aim of the tribunal is to surmount the problems of tax evasion which causes the government to lose a lot of income. The Chairman added that it was aimed at ensuring fairness and transparency in the tax system.
He said another objective was to enhance tax payers’ confidence and curtailing delays and bottlenecks in the adjudication of tax matters at conventional courts.
In his address at the occasion, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya who was represented by his Deputy, Manasseh Daniel Jatau, said the State Government, under the leadership of the governor, had been working transparently to take Gombe to the promised land of development which is the desire of all nations.
While commending the Governor for setting up the Revenue Recovery Tribunal which brought about a remarkable increase in revenue generation from N10.6 billion to N18.9 billion only a year after setting it up, it has proven to be a very important tool in the improvement of the revenue aspect in governance.
He also thanked the members of the tribunal as well as the people of the state for their cooperation. He said, “May I at this point commend and thank members of the tribunal for their dedication to duty.
“Permit me to pinpoint that the reward of hard work is more work. Furthermore, like any other organisation, you must be relevant, responsive and adaptive for you to continue and enjoy your work.
“I also most sincerely commend the law abiding residents stakeholders in Gombe State who believed and cooperated with the tribunal, for the achievements recorded.
“I appeal to other residents in Gombe State to do all that is within their means to assist and support this tribunal accordingly.
“Know that from these taxes, levies, fees, Government uses to provide the needs of the society. Be that as it may, Government will as usual utilise all resources available including revenue in the improvement of services that is being rendered to the citizens”, he assured.
In their separate remarks the State Attorney General and Commissioners for Justice, Barr. Zubairu Mohammed Umar and the Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Salihu Baba Alkali, explained that the Revenue Recovery Tribunal was not established to witch-hunt people but to address issues relating to tax evasion with a view to ensuring revenue generation for the benefit of the people of the state.
