The Anambra State government has commenced biometric enumeration of commercial transporters as part of a new initiative to improve its collectible revenues.
It is also part of measures being introduced to curb crime and make the State a safer homeland for all residents.
The exercise, a brainchild of the Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), commenced on June 2, and requires operators of different categories of commercial transport vehicles to register on the database.
Those to register, according to the AIRS, include commercial buses, tri-cycles, taxis, tippers and lorries, among others.
Mrs. Sylvia Tochukwu-Ngige, Deputy Director/Head, Tax Payer Education and Enlightenment Team, in statement on behalf of the Chairman/Chief Executive of AiRS, which publicized the exercise, said: “The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AiRS), wishes to inform all stakeholders and operators on transportation in Anambra State, comprising buses including shuttle buses, try-cycles otherwise known as Keke, trucks including mini trucks, tippers, lorries, taxis, market chairmen, etc that there will be biometrics enumeration and registration exercise in Anambra State commencing from Thursday, June 2, 2022.
“The biometrics enumeration and registration will take place at designated points to be communicated through the Union Executives, accordingly.
All the stakeholders in Transportation are by this announcement mandated to comply within four weeks from June 2, 2022. Failure to comply attracts impoundment.
“This exercise is in line with Governor Charles Soludo’s vision to nip the recent security challenges of the State in the bud,” the statement concluded.
Prior to the commencement of the programme, the management of AiRS had a meeting with stakeholders in the transportation sector comprising bus union, tri-cycle union, and tipper drivers union among others.
The parley with the stakeholders was sequel to the meeting which the AiRS management had with the unions to intimate and familiarize them with some of the staff trained by the AiRS to oversee the conduct of the enumeration/registration of all the drivers’ union in the State.
Beyond crime, the government also hopes to use the database to streamline its revenue collection in the transport sector.
Specifically, the trained AiRS staff will be deployed to various routes and designated places for the enumeration. The union will, in turn, educate their members on the importance of the enumeration and the designated places for the exercise.
The capacity Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Soludo on IGR and Digital Transformation, Mr. Isaac Chimereze Okoro, conducted the meeting.