Victor Ezeja and Editor
GOVERNORS of states in South-south geo-political zone in Nigeria have resolved to join in the case over collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) which is currently before the Supreme Court.
The matter is between Rivers State government and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe governors made the resolution during the South-South Governors Forum meeting which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Monday.
According to a six-point communique issued which was read by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State who presided over the meeting, the governors unanimously declared their total support for collection of VAT by states in the country.
The governors who had earlier in conjunction with their counterparts in other Southern States, agreed to make laws banning open grazing in the states, resolved to set up a regional security network to help implement the open-grazing law.
The open-grazing law is already in place in most of the Southern States to regulate activities of grazing and cattle ranching.
Part of the communique reads, “The BRACED Council met on Monday, October 4th, 2021. After an extensive deliberation, the council resolved unequivocally to support the decision for States to collect Value Added Tax, and resolved to join the suit before the Supreme Court.”
The forum demanded that the Presidency and the National Assembly should take necessary measures to review some aspects of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) considered unfavourable especially to host communities, in the spirit of fairness and equity.
“It urged that the amendment should include clear definition of host community and that the trustees should be appointed by State Governments.
“Council regretted that the President and the Federal Government has generally failed to give reasonable consideration to requests made by the region during the dialogue with the special federal delegation led by Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to the President.
“Notable among the requests were the relocation of the NNPC subsidiaries and IOCs headquarters to the Niger Delta, and a completion of a number of federal projects in the region, notably roads.”
The forum also called on the Federal Government to uphold the tenets of the law establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by appropriately constituting its board.
On the awaited NDDC forensic audit report, the forum urged the federal government to make it public and be courageous enough to deal justly and fairly with the report with the view to ensuring that NDDC meets its obligations to people of the region.
The meeting was attended by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State; Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
