Weeks after his commissioner for finance asked states agitating for the collection of Value Added Tax, VAT to be their brother’s keeper, Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, says his state won’t be able to pay salaries if Rivers and Lagos states begin the collection of VAT.
He, however said that the VAT dispute is a a wake-up call for the state.
Yahaya stated this when he received All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders from Gombe south senatorial district on Monday, TheCable reports.
The governor said with what is happening with Lagos and Rivers states on VAT collection, “if they are granted the opportunity to collect VAT, what are we going to do?”
According to him, if the income generated from VAT ceases, the Gombe state government would be unable to pay salaries, adding that 35 percent of the state’s earnings was from the tax.
Yahaya said the reason why Lagos and Rivers could boast over VAT collection was because of the industries they have in their states, hence, “we must wake up to the reality on the ground”.
Earlier in the month, Muhammad Magaji, Gombe commissioner of finance and economic development, advised Lagos and Rivers governments to reconsider their resolution on collecting value-added tax (VAT).
The commissioner urged both sides to put sentiment aside and their brothers’ keepers.
