The Sanity Multi-Efforts Forum, SMEF, has commended Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for his directive to protect cashew farmers, investors and legitimate businesses from exploitation and illegal revenue collection in Kogi State.
Governor Ododo had on October 6, 2026, at Government House, Lokoja, while receiving stakeholders in the cashew industry, declared that illegal revenue collectors must stay away from legitimate businesses and that his administration will clamp down on anyone operating outside the approved revenue system.
In a statement on Sunday, SMEF said the governor’s declaration aligns with its nine-year advocacy for sanity, transparency and ease of doing business, which it has championed since March 27, 2017.
The group said illegal revenue collection involves mounting of roadblocks, detention of vehicles conveying produce, issuance of tickets without legal base and without Kogi State IGR verification, demand for cash on the road, and diversion of public revenue into private accounts instead of KGIRS approved channels.
SMEF said it welcomes the governor’s directive to the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, KGIRS, to address multiple taxation, block leakages and strengthen the state’s revenue system, as well as his position that cashew is a high-value export commodity that must be protected.
The forum said the directive aligns with its petition to security agencies in the state dated October 8, 2026, on illegal highway revenue collections and diversion of public funds.
It claimed that on the same day the governor made the vow, its field monitors documented two cases of alleged illegal collection — N35,000 allegedly paid at Mopa along Kabba-Egbe Road into a private account under the guise of signage, and N35,500 allegedly paid by a private school in Lokoja into a private OPay account.
SMEF said if KGIRS had responded to its clarification letter dated May 5, 2026, the vacuum encouraging touting would not exist, noting that neighbouring states including Kwara, Benue and Ondo have responded and published harmonized frameworks in line with the Nigeria Tax Reform Act 2025 and the Joint Revenue Board communique banning roadside revenue collection.
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The group called on KGIRS to publish the approved schedule of lawful levies, authorized collectors and approved electronic payment channels, and to respond to its letter.
It also called on security agencies to enforce the governor’s order by dismantling illegal highway and roadside collections across the 21 local government areas, and urged citizens, farmers, transport unions and SMEs to reject and report any levy without legal backing and KGIRS verification.
SMEF said it stands with Governor Ododo to make Kogi a model state for tax compliance and investment.
