By Torkuma Gbor
The Cross River State Internal Revenue Service has sealed the premises of the Cross River Basin Development Authorityand the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Calabar over alleged tax liabilities totaling more than N154 million.
Officials of the agency carried out the enforcement exercise on Friday as part of efforts to recover unpaid taxes from institutions accused of defaulting on their statutory obligations to the state government.
Speaking during the operation, the Director of Compliance at the revenue service, Ayi Okon Bassey, disclosed that the Cross River Basin Development Authority owed over N53 million arising from a tax audit conducted between 2019 and 2021.
According to him, the agency had been served several assessment notices, demand notices and pre-distrain notices without any meaningful response from its management.
Bassey stated that the revenue service initially explored peaceful means of resolving the issue before taking enforcement action against the institution.
He further revealed that the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Calabar was indebted to the state in excess of N101 million in unremitted Pay-As-You-Earn and withholding taxes covering the 2022 and 2023 tax periods.
The compliance director explained that the hospital was issued assessment notices in October 2025, followed by demand notices in February 2026 and a pre-action notice in March 2026, but failed to settle the liabilities.
He added that after the hospital requested details of the tax computations during a pre-distrain engagement, the service furnished the documents and allowed seven days for reconciliation, but no action was taken after several weeks.
Also addressing journalists, the Director of Legal Services and Enforcement, Emmanuel Esirah, said taxes deducted from employees’ salaries must be remitted to the appropriate authorities, warning that failure to do so amounts to a violation of tax laws.
Esirah noted that the Nigerian Tax Administration Act empowers the agency to distrain properties and impound assets belonging to defaulting organisations until compliance is achieved.
He, however, clarified that medical operations at the neuropsychiatric hospital were not affected, explaining that only administrative sections, including the office of the Chief Medical Director, were sealed, while treatment facilities and patient care units continued operations.
The revenue agency also cautioned other institutions and corporate bodies in the state against tax evasion, insisting that enforcement measures would continue under the current tax administration framework.