From Uchenna Ezeadigwe
Awka
No fewer than two hundred retrenched staff and community revenue officers have accused the Anambra State Revenue of Professional misconduct.
The affected revenue workers had reacted negatively shortly after the news of their retrenchment was conveyed to them through an internal memo of the AIRS management dated February 18, 2026 and duly signed by Nwalusi Ifeanyi for Chairman) Chief Executive Officer of the state internal revenue service.
Describing their retrenchment as quite “unlawful and unjust”, the affected workers who constitute mainly Community Revenue Officers, CROs and other Staff, insisted that their sudden retrenchment did not follow due process.
The angry workers argued that the retrenchment order against them for allegedly failing a strategic tax collection examination organised by the state government in conjunction with Price Waters.and Coopers, PWC was not in line with the new tax law which made provision for Revenue Houses across the 36 states of the federation, including FCT to operate autonomously including training and retraining of its staff without any external interference.
The memo read in part, “As part of AIRS’s ongoing restructuring and based on the PwC administered CBT results, I am directed to convey approval of retrenchment for Community Revenue Officers on the attached list, having not met the required pass mark.
Action required: Hand over all AiRS tools, ID cards and materials in your possession to Administration/ HE Department. Deadline: Complete handover on or before Tuesday, 19 February 2026 and the lay off takes immediate effect. Compliance: Failure to comply will attract sanctions, up to and including legal process.
Reacting to the development, during a press briefing in Awka, the aggrieved workers who spoke through one Chukwuebuka Okeke, appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to urgently intervene to save them from a total hardship.
According to them, by the virtues of the new tax law, the Price Waters and Coopers PWC, has no right what so ever, to interfere on the affairs of AIRS. As far as we are concerned, the retrenchment exercise is a misused of governance”.
“What PWC did in the name of tax examination is nothing but a sham and professional misconduct. If the retrenchment order eventually comes to be truthful, it means what we have laboured for AIRS in the past seven years are in vain”
“This is the first time majority of us will be sitting for such examination.
First attempt should not be used to justify our capacity in taxation sector. We are begging our workable governor to return us back to our various departments to enable us learn. Sacking us is not a good option. What we want is training and retraining.”
They, however, used the avenue to call on the intervention of the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, towards their plight, saying the situation has been devastating.
“We are also appealing to the AIRS management to retract the retrenchment memo for the sake of the already existing relationship among the affected workers,” they added.
They also alleged that the former AiRS Chairman, Dr Greg Ezeilo, contributed to the issues currently affecting the agency, claimed that during his tenure, Ezeilo introduced one Mrs. Oyeka Amara, as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on IGR (Technical), presenting her as a professional with experience in revenue administration.
According to them, Amara was later identified as the chairman’s spouse, a relationship they claim was not disclosed to the government or staff at the time of her appointment.
They equally alleged that the arrangement raised governance concerns within the agency, with several departmental heads reportedly sidelined in operational decisions while the agency’s activities were largely coordinated by the former chairman and his wife.
They further claimed that the development contributed to internal administrative challenges within the revenue service. Some of the disengaged workers have therefore called on the state government to review the circumstances surrounding the restructuring exercise and to recall staff who were affected by the disengagement.
They also urged the governor to remove Oyeka Amara from her role currently as the Executive Director, Direct Tax Assessment in the interest of restoring transparency and confidence within the revenue agency.
But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor told newsmen on phone that the retrenchment exercise followed due process because the affected workers failed two examinations on strategic tax collections as organized by the state government, in conjunction with a consultancy firm, Price Waters and Coopers.
