Renowned Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo, has voiced her distress as she faces the daunting task of settling an 18 million Naira tax arrear within a mere three months, as stipulated by the government. The actress took to her Instagram page to share her ordeal.
In her statement, she expressed her belief that she is being unjustly targeted. This belief stems from her outspoken stance against her senior colleague in Nollywood, who faced allegations of sexually assaulting a young girl, as well as her active support for the Labor party in the recent elections.
Iyabo Ojo maintains that she has already settled her tax obligations for the years 2014 to 2019. However, authorities insist that she must clear the outstanding debts from 2020 to 2022 before the end of November, under the threat of legal action.
Despite her earnest efforts to negotiate a reduction or establish a viable payment plan, including composing an apology letter, her situation remains unchanged.
She further emphasized that fans should refrain from blaming celebrities who choose not to speak out, as such actions often entail adverse repercussions. In her own words,
“I’m too outspoken, too confrontational, too blunt, they say …….. my opinion must not be heard, unless it aligns with theirs, i must stay silent or get crippled, the witch hurt in eating deep into my soul but ……. damn, the hate screams louder. i fought for a girl child who was sexually molested, i was labelled bad & evil bcos one of my own (Yoruba) (senior colleague) was the accused, again i chose to follow my heart & support LP & the hate & resentment grew even worse & i was labeled an (Omo Ale Yoruba) & now i must pay a compulsory best of judgment based on my celebrity status by the Lirs of over 18m personal income tax…. so now i have paid from 2014 – 2019….. but i must pay the remaining of almost 18m for 2020 – 2022 b4 the end of Nov or go to court…. every effort on my part to reduce it was rejected, even when i had to forcefully accept it, my payment plan has also been rejected, i even had to write an apology letter, yet they refuse to give me an easy payment plan, now tell me if this is not witch hurting, and I’m suppose to stay silent 🤔
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Since 2020, which was the Covid 19 lockdown season, who really made money, tell me? if i had made so much i won’t have bought my house on mortgage, since 2020 my business has been going through ups and downs, yet i still constantly pay all my business tax, mortgage tax, loan tax etc……
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I’m the breadwinner, over 30 people depending on me, dollar raising almost everday, fuel high, diesel high, everything expensive, but still i was given 3 months to pay over 18m, how?????
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The money we make, the bills are so overwhelming even to save is a problem…
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Which kind of business will you people have me do to make a profit of 18m to pay you this period…
Why is my payment plan being denied, Why ?
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Guy’s, please don’t blame celebrities who chose not to speak up or lend their voice, Doing so comes with a lot of consequences.”
