By Benjamin Gbor, The Beagle News
The Cross River State Internal Revenue Service has shut down the offices of the Cross River Basin Development Authority and the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Calabar over alleged tax debts amounting to more than N154 million.
The enforcement operation, carried out on Friday by officials of the revenue agency, aimed to compel institutions accused of failing to meet their tax obligations to comply with state tax laws.
Speaking to journalists during the exercise, the Director of Compliance of the revenue service, Ayi Okon Bassey, disclosed that the Basin Development Authority owed over N53 million following a tax audit covering the 2019 to 2021 fiscal years.
He explained that the agency had repeatedly been served with assessment notices, demand notices and pre-distrain notices, but allegedly failed to respond or settle the liabilities.
According to him, officials of the service also made efforts to resolve the matter amicably before resorting to sealing the premises.
Bassey further revealed that the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar, was indebted to the state government to the tune of over N101 million in unremitted Pay-As-You-Earn and withholding taxes for the period between 2022 and 2023.
He stated that the hospital received assessment notices in October 2025, demand notices in February 2026 and a pre-action notice in March 2026, but failed to comply with the directives.
The tax official added that after the hospital requested details of its tax computations during a pre-distrain visit, the service provided the documents and gave a seven-day timeline for reconciliation. Still, no action was taken after more than a month.
Also speaking, the Director of Legal Services and Enforcement, Emmanuel Esirah, said taxes deducted from workers’ salaries were expected to be remitted to the appropriate tax authority, stressing that failure to do so constituted an offence under the law.
He noted that the Nigerian Tax Administration Act empowers the service to distrain and seize properties belonging to defaulting institutions until compliance is achieved.
Esirah, however, clarified that medical services at the neuropsychiatric hospital were not disrupted during the operation, as only administrative offices, including that of the Chief Medical Director, were sealed while wards, pharmacies and treatment facilities remained open to patients.
The revenue agency also warned other institutions and corporate organisations operating in the state to comply with tax regulations, stressing that enforcement of tax laws would be strictly pursued under the new tax administration regime.
