Obi Backs Rivers On VAT, Attacks Gov Obiano

By James Orji

A former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi has added his voice to the ongoing legal battle between the Rivers state and federal government on the collection of the Value Added Tax, VAT, adding that state government should look inward to generate funds rather than depending solely on the allocation from the federal government.

An appeal by Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, the agency that collect tax on behalf of the federal government demanding a reversal of the judgment of a federal High Court in Port Harcourt, is pending at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which has ordered the parties in the litigation to maintain status quo.

Not a few Nigerians insist that the court will settle the issue in a manner that will set the country on the path of true federalism, as against the current situation where revenue shared by states and federal government is believed to be lopsided in favour of a particular section of the country.

Speaking on the issue, Obi a former Vice Presidential candidate said the revenue sharing formular has made some states in the country to be lazy. He demands an equitable sharing of revenue, adding that some state governments have become unproductive.

Recent reports claim that some states are likely to go bankrupt if states are allowed to collect VAT, even as Lagos state has joined Rivers to enact a law to that effect, with many other states in tow.

In fact, the six south west states are said to be considering putting up a joint front over the issue. Adamawa and Benue states have also indicated the readiness to collect VAT in their states.

Obi who spoke on Channels Television on Sunday said what is going on aligns with his previous position on fiscal federalism.

According to the former governor, “The country always concentrates on sharing, nobody is talking about how to generate income. Nobody is talking about production. The country is not productive, that is why we are preoccupied with sharing.

“If we are productive, it will be very easy for Nigeria to grow, be able to create jobs and do what others are doing.

“Every part of Nigeria has the potential to grow and compete and but we are not doing that.”

He said more focus should be directed towards investment rather than resource sharing, citing how he made Anambra an investment destination, regretting however that his successor failed to follow through with his laid out plan to make the state a big revenue earner.

The former governor said “Oil is a dead asset. With the plans we had when I was in office, if it was followed by the next administration, Anambra would have generated way more than Nigeria generates from oil.

“Because when you talk about oil, how much are you (Nigeria) getting from oil? $18 billion, that’s all we are getting from oil,” he said.

He said the future of Nigeria is not crude oil, but information technology which has the potential to generate into the federation account billions of dollars.

“If you do these investments properly, pull your people out of poverty, you would see that the money you are talking in terms of what we are getting from oil is not much. I believe in fiscal federalism, it will help the country grow. At this point, the country is not growing and productivity is very low,” the politician said.