Cattle Tax: Yobe Government Targets 5.7m Livestock Yearly — Official

The Yobe government is targetting 5.7 million livestock under the newly introduced livestock tax.

Green White Green (GWG) recalls that on July 15, the government said it introduced cattle tax, as part of efforts to boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the state.

The decision to introduce the cattle tax followed Executive Order No. 3, recently signed by the state’s governor, Mai Mala-Buni.

Dr Idris Madaki, Secretary, Yobe Advisory Committee for Collection of Livestock Tax said that the state government was targetting over 5.7 million livestock, which included cattle, camels, horses, donkeys, sheep and goats.

”Under the programme, a cow, camel and a horse would be taxed N500 per annum; N200 is the levy for a donkey.

”A goat or sheep would be taxed N100 each,” he said.

Madaki, who is also the Programme Manager, Yobe Pilot Livestock Development Programme, said that traditional rulers have been mandated to collect the taxes and remit same to the state coffers.

“The tax is for all livestock and not only cattle. It is important to make this clarification.

“For the sedentary livestock owners, they will pay the taxes to their ward heads, while the itinerant herdsmen will pay same to the district heads.

“By this, the itinerant herdsmen are expected to have a kind of formal introduction with the local traditional authorities,” Madaki said.

He said the traditional institutions shall use their internal mechanism and local structures to ensure compliance.

Alhaji Baba Wali, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), at a recent sensitisation exercise, noted that the tax will also mitigate farmer and herder clashes.

“At a security meeting held by the governor and critical stakeholders sometime in March, the National Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) proposed the introduction of cattle tax in the state.

“The proposal was unanimously agreed by all stakeholders because apart from increasing the state revenue base, the process of collecting the taxes will also tackle the menace of cattle rustling.

“If a herdsman pays tax for a total of 100 cows in 2021, and in 2022 he is seen with 200 cows, he will definitely have some explanation to make,” Wali said.

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