Katsina State Government on Thursday sealed off the Katsina head office and biggest mast of leading indigenous telecommunications service provider in the country, GLO, for violating the state and local government tax laws to the tune of N400m.
The General Manager of Katsina Urban and Regional Planning Board, Usman Nadada, who disclosed this to newsmen in Katsina shortly after the action, lamented that the company had failed to remit tenement rent and withholding tax to the state in the past four years.
He further stated that action was sequel to expiration of the ultimatum given to all telecommunication companies to settle their outstanding tax or risk stiff penalties.
He warned that failure to abide by company or any other firm to comply with existing rules and regulations guiding their operations in the state would attract stiffer measures.
Nadada however expressed gratitude to Airtel and MTN among others telecommunications companies that had been paying their taxes promptly to the government and executing various corporate social responsibility projects across the state.
He alleged that GLO was not only violating the government’s tax laws but also failing in delivery some social responsibility services and observing the need to offer certain categories of jobs to people from the state.
When our correspondent visit the Katsina head office of Glo at Kofar Kaura at the time of filing in this report, the premises was under lock and key as all the staff were said to have been chased away by officials of the state government and security agents before the office was sealed off.
