Barely two weeks after the Director of Accounts at the Imo Internal Revenue Service (IIRS), Jude Ogwunga was arrested for alleged fraudulent practises, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Emeka Udegbulam has been sacked.
Udegbulam was indicted for sharp practises and complicit inaction while the Director of Accounts, Ogwunga overreached his powers through administrative high-handedness.
While the sacked chairman kept aloof, Ogwunga was hiring and threatening to fire workers with or without waiver. He was literally playing god at the IIRS and was so powerful to the extent that he allegedly stayed two years beyond his service year and defied redeployment until men of the Department of State Services (DSS) stormed his office and led him away.
Angered by the rot discovered following the bust of the Director of Accounts by the DSS, Governor Hope Uzodinma ordered the sack of the IIRS Chairman, Chief Emeka Udegbulam.
Consequently, Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwunonso Okeke was Friday appointed by Governor Hope Uzodinma, as the Interim Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the state Internal Revenue Service (IIRS).
In an official letter dated 18th February 2022, signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Cosmos Iwu, the appointment of OkeKe was to commence with immediate effect.
OkeKe was charged to ensure the full implementation of Revenue Law No. 23 of 2019, provision meant for the administration and collection of all revenues due to the government of Imo State and all the 27 local government council’s in the state; in addition to establishing the relevant administrative structures and other relevant matters in line with global best practices.
Governor Uzodinma expressed hope that the appointment of Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke, an experienced banker, a tax consultant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), will expedite measures put in place to fulfill the aim of making the state Internal Revenue Service an efficient one-stop-Tax administration solution.
