The managing director/chief executive officer of Abia State Signage and Advertising Agency, Victoria Onwubiko, has said churches in the state pay signage fees, not tax, for their billboards.
Onwubiko clarified yesterday while speaking to journalists in Umuahia, the capital, in reaction to media reports that the agency had imposed a signage tax on the churches.
The issue was raised when the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) wrote to the governor, Alex Otti, protesting the agency’s alleged imposition of a tax on church billboards.
The letter, titled ‘Taxation of church signposts in Abia State,’ dated October 22, 2024, was signed by the chapter’s chairman, Rev Ojo Ojo Uduma, and the secretary, Rev Francis Okere.
It reads in part: “We write to express our displeasure over the state government’s policy of compelling churches to pay taxes on their signposts.
“As a Christian and God’s own state, it is regrettable that Abia State is the only state in the whole federation that is taxing churches on their signposts.”
They urged the governor to “look into this matter and possibly rescind the policy to avoid compelling the body of Christ in the state from seeing the regime as anti-Church”.
“Furthermore, leaders of the Christian body in the state can be invited for a roundtable discussion on the way forward over this very little but delicate issue.”
“While looking forward to your favourable response, accept our esteemed assurances of our unalloyed support and prayers.”
The CEO said, “The agency did not impose a tax on churches; rather, churches are asked to pay the usual signage fees as enshrined in the Abia State law number 09 of 2012.”
She said that before her appointment, the churches had been paying signage fees for billboards they placed outside their premises and that the agency was working on an existing practice.
The agency chief expressed displeasure that the chapter did not wait for the governor’s response to their letter of complaint about the “tax before going to the press”.
“There is no way a letter will be written to his excellency the same day, and it goes to the media the same day without getting the governor’s reaction,” she maintained.
