Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, has described the move to allow states to handle the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) as a joke.
The governor in an interview with Daily Trust said that no state can stand alone without the help of others.
Masari explained that both Rivers and Lagos states depend on the population from other parts of the country to sustain their economy.
“What is Lagos without the rest of Nigeria? The market Lagos is boasting of is dependent on the larger part of the country. Benin Republic has a port, Togo has a port; do they have the population to back up the ports? Without us providing the demand part, what will be Lagos?” he said
He stressed that every state in the country shares some form of symbiotic relationship with the other in revenue generation which helps in their survival.
“VAT serves them and us. We provide the bulk of the market because without the rest of the states, what is Lagos or Port Harcourt?
“Any state that thinks it can survive in isolation is joking. We provide the demand that makes Lagos what it is.”
Recall that a court in Port Harcourt had authorized the Rivers state government to take charge of the collection of VAT in the state while restraining the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from carrying out the responsibility.
Also, the Sothern Governors Forum, after a meeting on Thursday, threw their support behind the collection of VAT by states, as Lagos and Rivers states have passed laws to guide the collection of VAT for their states.
However, David Umahi of Ebonyi State, on Friday, kicked against the position of the southern governors as disclosed in the communiqué issued after their meeting, which promoted the decentralized collection of VAT.
“Ebonyi state is not in support of any state collecting VAT. We are in support that FIRS should continue to collect tax and share.” he said
