The Osun st
ate government under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola has re-opens Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife after it was closed down by the state government for non-payment of taxes.
The development came barely a week after the foremost tertiary institution was sealed by the leadership of Osun state.
Notes that Abiodun Olanrewaju, the spokesperson for the institution disclosed that workers of the university returned on Tuesday, May 8, to the reopen Senate Building and other administrative blocks.
“The Senate Building is presently open and I am in my office likewise other staff, the Senate was reopened yesterday evening for activities.”
On how the school was able to resume duty, the special adviser to the state governor on tax matters, Gbenga Akano said the school authorities and the concerned government quarters resorted to a ‘heated’ meeting.
According to him: “Several meetings have been held with affected organisations, but it has been a continuous imperviousness and indebtedness. We are left with no option than to openly mention some tax defaulters who failed to perform their civic responsibilities.”
In his own part, while reacting to the allegations, Olanrewaju debunked the claim by the Osun IRS, that the institution is owing N1.8 billion in tax for 2015 to 2016, which led to its closure.
The spokesperson explained that the past tax liability, which represents the sum which the IRS claimed that the university under-deducted from staff salaries for the period 2015 and 2016 for PAYE, has been a subject of negotiations between the university and the State IRS.
He also disputed the figure of N1.844 billion submitted by the IRS and insisted that if there had been under-deduction at all, only the sum of N384 million was the amount by which PAYE was under-deducted from staff salaries.
