Kogi State Government seals off First Bank branches over tax evasion

Kogi State Government has sealed off all First Bank of Nigeria branches operating in the state on the orders of a Kogi High Court sitting in Lokoja.

The sealing was effected by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, KGIRS, following the inability of the bank to liquidate its outstanding tax liabilities, of over N411.12m to the Kogi State Government.

The Director of Legal Services at the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, Saidu Okino, while speaking with newsmen, said the amount represented outstanding withholding tax from the bank’s mobile banking agents from 2015 to 2022.


He said that the action of the board was a result of the refusal of the bank to liquidate the liability, despite several demand notices.

The seal-off was effected after a motion ex-parte was granted by the Kogi State High Court in Lokoja, where the revenue service, prayed for an Order of the Court to execute a Warrant of Distrain against the defendant by her goods, chattels, bonds, security or any other property.

The presiding judge, Justice Rukkayat Ayoola granted all the reliefs sought in the motion exparte, supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit, and deposed by Mohammed Ibrahim, a civil servant in the state.