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Trains Revenue Court Judges, Magistrates
BY PATRICK MGBODO/AMAYINDI YAKUBU/ STELLA OGBUZE
THE Delta State Government has revealed plans to review and harmonise its tax and revenue laws in line with the latest federal practice, following the advent of the 2025 Tax Reform Act.
This was disclosed at a one-day seminar for revenue court judges and magistrates organised by the State Judiciary in conjunction with the State Committee on Ground Rent, which was held in Asaba.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu signed four tax reform bills into law: the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Administrative Tax Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill which takes effect from January 1, 2026.
Addressing The Pointer on the sidelines, the Chairman of the taskforce on ground rent, Mr Paul Esejo, said the essence of the seminar was to train the revenue court judges and magistrates on developments in the revenue laws.
According to him, ‘’the court is very important in the process of generating revenue. We have discovered that there are a lot of defaulters in the system, and to get them to pay, you have to follow due process. This involves going through the courts.
‘’This is why the revenue court judges and magistrates are empowered by the law to handle revenue-related matters, and there is a need for us to let them know the development in the revenue laws.
‘’We must work in line with these new laws recently passed at the federal level. So, very soon, the state government will set up a committee to harmonise our laws and review them to fall in line with the federal laws. Thus, we needed to sensitise the revenue judges and magistrates to promote revenue justice’’ he said.
At the seminar, which was declared open by the state Chief Judge, Hon Justice TessyDiai, papers were delivered by eminent resource persons, as well as interactive sessions that allowed the participants to get better clarifications of the lectures.
In his paper titled ‘’A Brief Analysis on Enabling Laws and Regulations ON Tax and Revenue Matters’’, Prof Frank Nwugo, who is also the Secretary of the Ground Rent Committee, called for inter-agency collaboration to harmonise tax enforcement and dispute resolution mechanisms.
‘’The new tax laws have expanded the tax base in certain areas and we cannot live in a vaccum. As the federal government is updating its laws, we also have to make our laws to make our laws conform to the dictates of the Constitution. This is why we are already preparing to ensure that our laws in the state conform to the new tax laws.
Similarly, Stella Emefiene, in her paper Challenges Encountered by the Revenue Courts and Parties during Implementation and Enforcement of Judgement’’, recommended, among other things, a review of existing laws to reflect realities, especially as it relates to monetary judgment.
Meanwhile, Andrew Odum SAN, in his paper ‘’Approach to synergy and cooperation without compromise in revenue-related matters’’ underscored how effective and principled judicial cooperation can enhance governance outcomes without compromising the independence of the judiciary.
Also, a revenue court judge, Mrs Catharine Akpiroroh, delivered a lecture titled ‘’Processes in the prosecution of revenue and tax matters and the limit of the powers of the presiding magistrate/judges on revenue cases’’
