The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Florence Obi has said the institution is on course to defraying the tax arrears and levies estimated at about 3.7 billion naira to the Cross River State government.
Professor Obi made this known at the UNICAL International Conference Centre during an event to mark her 4th anniversary in office.
She said besides this, her administration has also cleared all taxes and levies owed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), explaining that the taxes and levies were largely owed by previous administrations but that she is certain that after her tenure, no tax burden will be passed on to another administration in UNICAL.
“We are currently discussing the modality of paying off Cross River State government’s backlog of tax arrears and levies owed by the previous administrations, which is about N3.7bn.
“We are certain that on the completion of our tenure, there will be no tax burden passed on to another administration.
“The huge amount of money owed as taxes to the FIRSÂ by previous administrations have all been cleared in the present administration.
“Also, there has been consistent and timely remittance of deducted taxes which earned us in July 2024 a letter of commendation from FIRS.
“The settlement of these taxes – Value Added Tax, Withholding Tax and Stamp Duty – have brought a lot of relief to the institution,” Professor Obi enthused.
She also disclosed that her administration inherited three years of unprepared and unaudited annual accounts for 2018, 2019 and 2020.
“This attracted condemnation from our supervisory and regulatory agencies,” dhe lamented.
“Thus far, we have cleared the backlog and are currently in the preparation and auditing of yearly accounts, including those for 2021 and 2022, while 2023 is at an advanced stage of completion.
“This development both signifies probity and transparency in the affairs of the university, as the cardinal principle of my administration.”
Professor Obi also listed other achievements to include the completion of abandoned projects which became an albatross to the institution and posed a problem in accessing new interventions from funding agencies.
The first female UNICAL VC said she would want to be remembered as an administrator that stood for all round academic excellence.
