***Court To Rule On July 8
Hon. Justice Bassey T. Ebuta, the Administrative Judge of the Calabar Judicial Division of the High Court of Cross River State will on Wednesday July 8, 2026 give ruling in the suit involving the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, (NAPPS), Cross River State and the Calabar Municipality, Cross River State over excessive taxes imposed on private schools in state.
When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the two sides closed their case before Hon Justice Ebuta fixed July 8 for ruling.
The Lawyer of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, (NAPPS), Cross River State, Mba E. Ukweni SAN, in an interview with DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS stated that the NAPPS, the Claimant in the suit is challenging the illegality in the fixing of levies by local government councils when the idea of the new tax law was to harmonize all laws to guide against double or multiple taxation.
The claimant wants to decide if the action of Calabar Municipality is not null and void having contravened the tax law promulgated by the Act of National Assembly.
According to him, the numerous demands of levies and taxes from Proprietors of Private School is the bone of contention.
Mba E. Ukweni SAN posited that the local government cannot make a law on the same issue where the National Assembly or state assembly had already legislated.
”The national assembly has harmonized all the tax laws. The Constitution remains the grundnorm and any other law against the spirit of the Constitution is null and void.
”The doctrine of Covering the seal which stated that neither the state nor local government can make any other law negating the one passed by the National Assembly.”
He concluded that the local government as the last tier of government cannot rock the boat and make any law at variance with the National Assembly Act.
In the same vein, the Chairman of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, (NAPPS), Cross River State, Pastor Abraham Osok told DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS that the incessant harassment of school owners and private schools establishment in the municipality necessitated the suit.
The chairman added that the schools know their commitment of annual renewal, tax returns and payee to the state which they never defaulted, only for the local governments to bring other sundry levies amounting to thousands of naira to extort the schools in the name of tenament rate, development levies, sanitation levies, etc.
Pastor Osok said he had last year written to the state government over the extortion, the development brought about the setting of a Committee chaired by the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.
He said Calabar Municipality had earlier dragged the schools to a Magistrate Court before the SAN said the case be taken to the state High Court upon taken over to resolve the issue once and for all.
Comrade Bassey Anwana, the State Secretary General, NAPPS, Cross River State corroborated the reports of alleged extortion by the local councils including the use of touts and thugs to disrupt school activities because of unpaid “illegal levies and dues”.
Comrade Anwana said the court is the last resort for school owners in Calabar to have their peace.
