Ogun bill on VAT collection scales second reading

Ogun State Government is set to enact a law to empower it to collect Value Added Tax like its Rivers and Lagos State counterparts.

Already the Ogun State House of Assembly is considering the bill, which has passed second reading.

The bill is seeking to establish a law to impose and charge VAT on certain goods and services in the state.

Since the Rivers State ruling on VAT collection, there has been a controversy on who should collect VAT – state governments or the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

If the bill scaled through, Ogun will join Rivers and Lagos states on the list of states that have enacted laws for collecting VAT from firms.

Last week, the Court of Appeal in Abuja directed Rivers and Lagos to maintain status quo (to maintain the situation as it existed before), pending the determination of an appeal filed by the FIRS.

Clerk of the state assembly, Deji Adeyemo, read the bill for the first time during the plenary session in Abeokuta on Tuesday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Majority leader, Yusuf Sherif, moved the motion for the second reading which was seconded by Ganiyu Oyedeji.

At the opening debate of the bill, Olakunle Sobukanla, chairman of the house committee on finance and appropriation, said the bill was an avenue for Ogun to generate more revenue for the state’s development.

Sobukanla said that the more internally generated revenue by the state, the more infrastructure development in all sectors.

Oyedeji, in his submission, said the people’s needs included the fixing of bad roads and the construction of new ones, provision of healthcare facilities, among others, which all required finance.

Other lawmakers supported the quick passage of the bill, saying that it would boost the socio-economic development of the state.

Speaker of the House, Olakunle Oluomo, sent the bill to the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative actions.