The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved its ruling on an application by Lagos State to be made a party in the appeal filed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over the collection of the Value Added Tax, VAT by states.
The FIRS filed an appeal against the August 9, 2021 judgment by Justice Steven Pam of the Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt, voiding the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act and holding that the states should collect VAT and not the Federal Government.
A three-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Simon Tsanami, after listening to arguments by lawyers to parties on Thursday, said they would be informed when the ruling was ready, The Nation reports.
In arguing Lagos’ application, the state’s Attorney General, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) said his client was a necessary party as it would be affected by the outcome of the case.
Lawyer to Rivers State, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) agreed with Onigbajo and urged the court to join Lagos, while lawyers to FIRS and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mahmud Magaji (SAN) and Tijani Gazali (SAN) argued otherwise and prayed the court not to join Lagos.
