Kogi State Government has sealed off all First Bank Nigeria PLC branches in the state.
The action was on in compliance with an order of a Kogi High Court sitting in Lokoja.
The implementation of the order was carried out on Monday by Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), following what it described as the inability of the bank to liquidate its outstanding tax liabilities of over N411.12 million to Kogi State Government.
The Director, Legal Services of the KGIRS, Bar. Saidu Okino, in a chat with journalists in his office on the development, said the amount represents outstanding withholding tax from the bank’s mobile banking agents from 2015 to 2022.
He disclosed that several demand notices had been served on the bank to that effect, but none of them was honoured.
He said they approached the court as a last resort as all other measures to make the bank pay up proved abortive.
“Before we went to court, there was a Demand Notice to that effect dated 12th day of October, 2021, and signed by the then acting chairman, Abubakar Yusuf.
“We made several attempts. We sent them a notice of the intention of the service to take warrant of distrain so that we can do whatever is needful, on 25th day of February, 2022, but we were ignored.
“On the 25th of August, 2022, Notice of Refusal to amend their liability was served on them. We did not on our own roll out our machineries to go and seal,” Okino said.
