The Registrar of the Revenue Court in Issele-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Azu Nwaokolo has appealed for urgent intervention to rehabilitate the entire building of the court.
Mr Nwaokolo, who was visibly uncomfortable with the state of the dilapidated complex, appealed to his office at Issele-Uku while playing host to newsmen.
Nwokolo said: “This building has been in this pitiable condition for the past 10 years with no sign of being rehabilitated by the authority responsible for its services.”
He reaffirmed that the Revenue Court was established by the state government to generate revenue for the local government through the enabling law. He named such revenue as tenement rates, billboard rates, sanitation levy, motor parks, and others.
The Registrar, while explaining that the local government has the responsibility to maintain the property, also revealed that it was the primary obligation of the council to fund the day-to-day running of the office at regular intervals.
Towards this end, he reiterated that the Revenue Court is a grassroots Court designed to be patronized by the local government authority to strengthen the Council’s revenue base.
He decried the attitude of the council management who preferred to engage private agents that were not known by the law to collect revenue, thereby undermining the court that was empowered by the constitution to do so.
