2023: Southern Governors Demand Southern President Insist States Must Collect VAT

On Thursday, the governors of Nigeria’s southern states convened in Enugu and declared that the country’s next president must come from the south.

This is to assure equity, justice, and fairness in 2023, according to them.

The governors of the southern states also agreed that the disputed VAT collection should be handled by state governments.

They unanimously agreed to begin collecting VAT, claiming that governments have the authority to do so.

According to iexclusive News Nigeria, there has recently been debate about whether layer of government is constitutionally competent to collect VAT.

Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, the Chairman of the Forum and the Governor of Ondo State, who read the communiqué from the meeting, noted that the southern governors were also present.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that the conference is a follow-up to previous meetings conducted in Asaba, Delta State’s city, and Alausa, Lagos State’s capital, where governors agreed to restrict open grazing to address the country’s growing farmer/herder crisis, as well as restructuring and calls for state police.

In contrast to when the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, is in charge of collecting VAT, which goes into the federal government’s coffers, he added that state governments collecting VAT would go a long way in helping their economic growth and development.

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, ordered enterprises based in the state to begin paying VAT to the state government during a stakeholders meeting in Port Harcourt with officials of Shell Petroleum Development Company and other oil corporations, as well as business owners in the state.

The forum also extended its gratitude to the governments in the area that have successfully implemented the anti-open grazing law, as agreed upon at the conference in Delta State.

The conference urged other states in the region that have yet to execute the decision to do so quickly, since it symbolizes the aspirations of the people in the region, according to Akeredolu.

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, Babajide Sanwo Olu of Lagos, and Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta were among the governors present.

Ondo’s Rotimi Akeredolu, Osun’s Adegboyega Oyetola, Bayelsa’s Douye Diri, and Ogun’s Dapo Abiodun were among the others.

Mr Bisi Egbeyemi of Ekiti, Mr Rauf Olaniyan of Oyo, Dr Kelechi Igwe of Ebonyi, Chief Ude Oko-Chukwu of Abia, Mr Philip Shuaibu of Edo, Prof. Ivara Esu of Cross River, and Prof. Placid Njoku of Imo were among the deputy governors present.