South-South govs join VAT suit, demand PIA review

Governors of South-South states say they have resolved to join the suit at the Appeal Court challenging the right of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to collect Value Added Tax.

Rivers State challenged FIRS and got the judgment of a federal court that endorsed its right over VAT in its state.

The governors made their intention known in a six-point communique read to newsmen by Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta at the end of the Governors Forum in Port Harcourt.

The governors declared that they unequivocally support the collection of VAT by state governments in the country.

“The Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta (BRACED) Council after an extensive deliberation, resolved unequivocally to support the decision for states to collect VAT and resolved to join the suit before the Supreme Court.”

“This is predicated on the fact that most of the BRACED commission states have already established their state security outfits,” the communique stated.

Lagos, Oyo have also joined the case. And it is expected that more states will join.

The BRACED council called on the president and the Federal Government to uphold the tenets of the law establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by appropriately constituting its board.

Furthermore, the Council expressed the hope that the Federal Government would make the forensic audit report on the NDDC public and be courageous enough to deal justly and fairly with the report to strengthen the capacity of the organisation.

The communique demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly take necessary measures to review some aspects of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in the spirit of fairness and equity.

The communique requests that NNPC subsidiaries and International Oil Companies (IOCs) head offices be relocated to the Niger Delta and also the completion of some federal projects in the region, such as roads.

The meeting was attended by Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Chief Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, Godwin Obaseki of Edo and Sen. Douye Diri of Bayelsa.