Tensions Mount Over Development Levy in Imo

Palpable tension is brewing in the 644 autonomous communities in Imo State, following the planned implementation of the N3,000 Development Levy slammed on every taxable adult by the state government.


Already, Governor Rochas Okorocha has handed over what a traditional ruler called “Taxpayers Ledger,” to all the recognized royal fathers in the state.

Vanguard equally gathered that apart from from being used as tax collectors, “the state government would use the performance of the traditional rulers, in the assigned duty, to grade them”.

Strong feelers emanating from the communities yesterday, indicated that “most of the royal fathers are now under serious threat from their subjects.”

In his reaction, Chief Blessing Osuagwu, an indigene of Umunachi Obowo, not only condemned the imposition of the latest tax by government, but also said its “a direct way of pitching the traditional rulers against their subjects.”

His words: “There is tension in the land occasioned by the biting economic recession. People find it difficult to feed or meet their daily domestic demands. The poverty is so pervasive that no one is capable of giving helping hand to one’s relatives.”