The Imo state governor, Emeka Ihedioha, yesterday said that he signed into law the Imo state Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption tax law No.35, to generate revenue for the state. Ihedioha who spoke in Owerri, through his Chief Press Secretary, Chibuike Onyeukwu, also added that the governor signed into law the Imo State Employment and Empowerment Trust Fund, Law No.37 of 2019, and Imo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (Establishment)Law No 36 of 2019

In explaining further the purpose for which the Hotel tax law was signed into law, he said: “The Imo State Hotel and Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Tax, law No.35 of 2019, is aimed at sanitizing the consumer sub-sector of the Tourism Sector in the State with the intent of boosting revenue of the State for its overall development.”

It was his view that “The law is not designed to tax Imo citizens arbitrarily but to place minimal tax on tourists coming to the State with a view to generating revenue for the development of the state.” Apart from the hotel tax law, he shed light on the Imo State Employment and Empowerment Trust Fund Law that “It will aid job creation in the State, particularly for the teeming young population in the State.” Just as he said that the Imo State Signage and Advertisement Agency law “does not seek to establish an agency on advertisements. “But to streamline and regulate indiscriminate display of signs and advertisements across the State. He maintained that the laws are geared towards improving the State and the citizenry.” He continued: “The Imo State House of Assembly is perhaps the most proactive and accomplished House of Assembly in the nation and in the State. “Eleven bills passed into laws by the House of Assembly within a period of six months is a major accomplishment. Many Houses of Assembly may not pass eleven bills into law in four years” “The governor urged the Speaker and his colleagues to maintain the spirit with a view to accelerating the rebuilding process, which according to him, is already yielding significant results.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/12/why-i-signed-imo-hotel-tax-law-ihedioha/