The Southern Governors’ Forum on Thursday gave their nod to the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT) by states.
The governors made this known in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting in Enugu and signed by the Chairman of the forum, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The meeting was attended by nine governors and seven deputy governors, including Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nyesom Wike (Rivers) Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) and Doye Diri (Bayelsa) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun).
Deputy governors in attendance were – Placid Njoku (Imo), Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi (Ekiti), Phillip Shuaibu (Edo), Rauf Olaniyan (Oyo), Prof. Evara Esu (Cross River), Ude Okochukwu (Abia) and Kelechi Igwe (Ebonyi).
The communiqué read: “the Southern Governors Forum expressed satisfaction with the rate at which the states in southern Nigeria are enacting or amending the anti-open grazing laws, which align with the uniform template and aspiration of Southern Governors and encouraged the states that are yet to enact this law to do so expeditiously.
“We also encourage the full operationalisation of already agreed regional security outfits, which would meet, share intelligence and collaborate to ensure the security and safety of the region.
“The Forum reaffirms its earlier commitment to fiscal federalism as resolved at the inaugural meeting of the Forum held on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, at Asaba, Delta State and emphasised the need for the Southern States to leverage the legislative competence of their respective State Houses of Assembly, as well as representation in the National Assembly to pursue its inclusion in the Nigerian Constitution through the ongoing constitutional amendment.
“The meeting resolved to support the position that the collection of VAT falls within the powers of the states. It also expresses satisfaction with the handling of issues around the Petroleum Industry Act and ownership of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation by the larger Nigerian Governors’ Forum.”
However, some state governments including Lagos, Rivers, and Ogun had initiated processes for the collection of VAT in their domains.
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had last week signed the VAT bill into law in his state.
Rivers State government, on its part, is embroiled in a dispute with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over the VAT collection.
