By Ogochukwu Isioma
Popular Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo has alleged that the Lagos state government was after her because she supported Peter Obi against Bola Tinubu in the last February 25, 2023 presidential elections.
While Obi was presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, ran under the All Progressives Congress platform. The latter would later win the now-disputed presidential poll.
Iyabo made the claims following the seven days ultimatum issued to her by the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) to pay the sum of N18,640,092.00 as personal income tax or risk jail.
The LIRS, in a letter sent to the Nollywood star, sighted by METROWATCHXTRA.COM, accused Ojo of owing N7,376,000.00 tax for the year 2022 and N11,264,092 in back taxes for the 2021 tax year.
But, responding to the contents of the letter from the LIRS, Actress Ojo, who took to her Instagram story live, shared several receipts of tax payments for her brand and personal businesses to the government.
She claimed that a close friend of hers who is within the government caucus, had recently hinted her that the government would come for her over her support for Obi in the last presidential election.
“Someone very close to me sent me a message and said, ‘ah, I heard about this thing two weeks ago’ because you know, he is within their caucus. He said they were saying that, ‘na because you dey support Peter Obi (sic)’.”
Actress Ojo, however, said she doesn’t care, vowing to support whomever she wishes to support as it was within her rights to do so, adding, “I am not fighting anybody, I don’t have issue with anybody.”
The Nollywood star also questioned the rationale for such high personal income taxes, as well as the lack of transparency in the computation procedure.
Ojo narrated how she went to the office of the LIRS to explain all she earns as a businesswoman which she did only for her to get the outrageous levy from the state government.
“How much do they even pay an actress, and how much do they pay us per set? How many movies do I do in a year now?
“That’s because they do not pay well. Okay, as an actress or an influencer, how do they come up with these prices that they charge? How do they come up with such an outrageous fee because the amount is too much?
“Omo, the tax I pay, I don’t think you pay it. You come to my office in Lekki, and I will bring out everything for you to see. So it is not that I don’t pay tax, but you cannot charge me such an outrageous amount,” she lamented.
