Hotel proprietors in Enugu State, under the banner of Incorporated Trustees of Coal City Hotel Owners Welfare Association (ITCCHOWA), have lamented that their business premises are being sealed by the Enugu State Government over Purchase Tax and other related levies.
Moreover, their guests, visitors and even foreigners in their establishment are being locked up along with the hotels, NewsBits learnt. Already over one hundred hotels have suffered the same fate as the management of the Enugu State Board of Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), embarked on the sealing and shutting down of the hotels.
Addressing newsmen on their plight on Friday, counsel to the hotel owners, Barrister. Chijoke Ezeh said that they filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Enugu, seeking an interpretation of the relevant laws of Nigeria regarding Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Purchase Tax.
According to Ezeh, the suit no. FHC/E/CS)308/2025, pending before the Federal High Court, should first be determined before the state government will take any action, such as the sealing of the hotels.
Eze said that the essence of addressing the media is to clear air on what is happening in Enugu State concerning the sealing of hotels in the state over Purchase Tax which they view as double taxation since VAT is being collected from them as well as other levies the state government imposed.
The counsel posited that his clients are not against tax, however, that relevant taxes should be paid but not subjected to double taxation.
“My name is Chijoke Ezeh, a legal practitioner based here in Enugu. The crux of this meeting is to clear the air on the recent happenings in Enugu State, the sealing of some hotels by government authorities in the state.
“We are here to state the position of Incorporated Trustees of Coal City Hotel Owners Welfare Association (ITCCHOWA) over the recent happenings in Enugu State in this particular issue. The issue here is that in recent times there is, I may call it, the demand for the payment of Purchase Tax by the government and equally the land use charge.
“We were briefed to approach the court that is the Federal High Court by virtue of section 251 sub 1 paragraph E of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Federal High Court has exclusive jurisdiction over matters of taxation. So we were briefed to approach the court to interpret relevant provisions of the laws relating to purchase tax, so based on that, we filed a suit, suit no. FHC/E/CS/308/2025, wherein we commenced action by originating summons seeking interpretation of relevant provisions of the laws, especially the VAT Act which gave the FG the right to receive or collect purchase tax through the Federal Inland Revenue Service because there is this law passed by the Enugu State House of Assembly, that is the finance law of Enugu State which equally gives the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service the right to collect the same tax of consumables in the state and we perceive that is tantamount to double taxation, so based on that we agreed to approach the court for interpretation of the relevant laws relating to purchase tax.
“We have done that and the necessary government authorities that are respondents in that matter, have been served. But to our greatest surprise, we started seeing sealing of hotels in Enugu State by government authorities upon the purported court order which we were not served. As we address this gathering, my clients have not received any court process over that court order. We are unaware of any pending suit save the one we filed, no suit no, nothing of such was served on them and we are saying that our clients are law-abiding citizens of this country, we have never reneged, we have been paying all levies and charges imposed by the state government and we have been paying. But on the issue of purchase tax, and the issue of ground rent and all what not, we have approached a court of competent jurisdiction to seek interpretation of the law.
” As a counsel, as a lawyer, I thought it wise that the proper thing to do is to wait for the judgment of the court to come. My speech is that my clients have not said that they will not pay tax, they have never done that and they will do no such thing. What we are saying is that there is a lawsuit encompassing questions of law, waiting for interpretation by the court and until that is determined, it will be prejudice the positions of the plaintiffs in the suit if any action is taken to jeopardize their position. We perceive that this is a tax due for the Federal Government and for Enugu State to start doing that will amount to double taxation. I am saying that it is wise for us to wait for the court to interpret the law,” he averred.
Chairman of the hotel owners, who was flanked by other hotel owners, Dr. Johnson Ugwuoke said that their counsel has succinctly mirrored their grievance. Ugwuoke pointed out that they were not against taxes and levies but would not be stifled by double taxation, which would be inimical to their growth.
“Our lawyer has actually summarized the whole thing, why we are here, and what the issue is all about. Hotels Owners Welfare Association is an association of the body of hotel owners in Enugu State. We are investors in the state. We mean well for the state. Hotel owners, besides the state government, are the second largest employers of Labour. Our investment is crucial. In there same vein, we are law-abiding and as such we expect that all our members do the right thing by paying the relevant taxes and levies to the government, which most of us, if not all of us, have done so but the grey area is the recent introduction of purchase tax and the way and manner it is being enforced.
“We are doing this, not just for the public to hear us, but also so that the government should come in and redress the situation. As you rightly pointed out, there is an aberration in having a law to us appears to impose a double taxation, and we are asking for clarification, legal interpretation, that’s all. And all the other levies we have paid, we are asking for interpretation.
“So going around to seal up hotels with guests, visitors, foreigners, businessmen inside, locking them and putting them under chain, I think that is a bit over-reaching. We are here, our businesses are here, we are not running away. If the court rules and says pay the government backlog because it is in their favour, we’ll pay. We shall all find our way and pay and for me and the members of our association, we don’t think it has gotten to the point of going around at what we are seeing today. We are calling on government authorities to kindly look into this approach because it is giving embarrassment to the state, giving embarrassment to visitors,” Ugwuoke declared.
He added that they were not aware of any other pending suit other than the one they filed, appealed to the Enugu State Government to look dispassionately into their plight and stop the sealing of their business.
