Southern Governors Back Collection Of VAT By States

By Ayodele Oni

The meeting of Southern Governors which was held in Enugu on Thursday, September 16, 2021, declared that it is within the Governors purview to collect the Value Added Tax, (VAT).

The Governors, in a communique, reaffirmed their stand on open-grazing ban, urging every State in the region to quickly pass a law in that regard.

Chairman of the Forum and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who read the communique, reaffirmed earlier commitment to final federalism.

Present at the meeting were Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta; Babajide Sanwolu, Lagos; Gboyega Oyetola, Osun; Emmanuel Udom, Akwa Ibom; Nyesom Wike, Rivers; Dapo Abiodun, Ogun and the host Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.

Deputy Governors present included Rauf Olaniyan, Oyo; Bisi Egbeyemi, Ekiti; Philip Shuaib, Edo; Ude Okochukwu, Abia, Kelechi Igwe, Ebonyi, Placid Njoku, Imo.

The communique stated that “Nigerian Southern Governors’ Forum at its meeting of today, Thursday, 16th September 2021 held in the Government House, Enugu, Enugu State review the state of the nation and the progress of implementation of the decisions reached in her previous meetings and further resolved as follows:

“Expressed satisfaction with the rate at which the States in the 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.

“Encouraged the full operationalization of already agreed regional security outfits; which would meet, share intelligence and collaborate, to ensure the security and safety of the region.

“Reaffirmed its earlier commitment to Structural and fiscal federalism as resolved at the inaugural meeting of the

Forum held on Tuesday, 11th May 2021 at Asaba, Delta State.

“Emphasized the need for the Southern States to leverage the legislative competence of their respective State Houses of Assembiy as well as representation in the National assembly to pursue its inclusion in the Nigeran Constitution through the ongoing constitutional amendment.

“Following from paragraph 3″ above, the meeting resolved to support the position that the collection of VAT falls within the powers of the States.

“Expressed satisfaction with the handling of issues around the Petroleum Industry ACT (PIA) and ownership of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the larger Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

“Reiterated their earlier position that the next President of Nigeria must come from the Southern part of Nigeria in

line with politics of equity, justice and fairness.

“The Forum thanked the host Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and chose Rivers State as the next host for the

Southern Governors’ Forum meeting in November 2021.”