The Executive Chairman of the Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), Mr Joseph Kwaghgba, has dismissed allegations by the General Manager of the Benue State Environmental Sanitation Authority (BENSESSA), Anta Igbaato, that the revenue agency collects sanitation levies but fails to fund waste evacuation operations.
Kwaghgba, who spoke with journalists in his office on Monday, described the allegation as a misunderstanding of the statutory responsibilities of government agencies, insisting that BIRS has no legal mandate to disburse funds to any ministry, department or agency.
He explained that the responsibility of the revenue service is to identify, assess, collect and remit government revenue into the state’s coffers, while the release of funds to government agencies rests with the Ministry of Finance through the Office of the Accountant-General after legislative appropriation.
“Our mandate is very clear. We identify, assess, mobilise and remit government revenue to government coffers. It is not within our purview to redistribute the money we collect,” Kwaghgba said.
According to him, every government agency receives budgetary allocations through the annual appropriation process, while BIRS merely generates revenue to support the implementation of those budgets.
“It is rather laughable for anyone to say that BIRS is not funding them. There is no provision in the law for BIRS to finance government agencies. Once revenue is collected and remitted into government coffers, disbursement is handled by the Office of the Accountant-General through the Ministry of Finance, not BIRS,” he stated.
Responding to claims that BIRS collects environmental levies without supporting sanitation
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