By: Nakanda Iyadim & Achiane Adams
The Cross River State Government has announced plans to partner with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to educate taxpayers on their civic responsibilities, particularly in relation to the new tax reforms.
The initiative is aimed at promoting voluntary tax compliance and deepening public awareness across the State.
The Executive Chairman of the Cross River State Internal Revenue Service (CRIRS), Prince Edwin Okon, disclosed this during an interactive session with the Cross River State Chapter Executive and members of NIPR led by its Chairman, Pst. Augustine Mboso, Thursday,at the CRIRS Headquarters in Calabar.
According to Prince Okon, such collaborations are key to properly inform taxpayers about the new tax regime, reducing misinformation, and improving voluntary compliance, noting that partnerships with professional bodies like NIPR will drive effective communication, public sensitization, and grassroots engagement.
He further added that the Service is also open to training opportunities that will strengthen communication capacity, enhance stakeholder engagement, and support the effective dissemination of tax-related information to the public.
Earlier, Dr. Augustine Mboso, State Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Cross River State Chapter, lauded the Executive Chairman’s digitalization efforts which he noted has contributed immensely to the drastic surge in revenue generation for the State.
Dr. Mboso assured the State’s tax Boss that, as a professional training institution, the NIPR was ready to explore every possible avenue to ensure eligible taxpayers are fully educated on their civic obligations.
The Chapter Chairman also called on the Executive Chairman to extend this “sanitization” process to all revenue-generating agencies. This move according to him would ensure administrative uniformity and put an end to the unwarranted harassment of taxpayers across the State by revenue collecting agents and assured him of their readiness to partner the service in the area of training.
Also speaking, the immediate past State Chairman of the Institute, Mr. Benedict Okache, thanked the Executive Chairman and IRS for being a consistent partner of the NIPR for over 20 years and appealed for the robust partnership to continue in the years ahead.
On behalf of the National President of the Institute, Dr. Ike Neliaku, the Cross River State Chapter Chairman, Dr Augustine Mboso, later conferred Corporate Membership on the Service and charged the agency to live up to the expectations of its new status when engaging with the citizens of Cross River.
