Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has expressed delight in the decision of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami to take the disagreement on the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) between the federal and some state governments to the Supreme Court.
Wike in his submission said the step will go a long way in strengthening the rule of law across all levels in Nigeria as the judiciary will be able to interpret where the law stands on the issue of VAT collection.
He made the observation in a statement by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri when the Governor played host to a delegation led by the Managing Director of BusinessDay newspaper, Dr Ogho Okiti at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday.
According to him, the issue surrounding VAT collection has nothing to do with causing confusion in the country has been insinuated in some quarters but about giving proper interpretation to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution on issue of VAT collection in Nigeria.
He said, “I am happy today that the Attorney General (of the Federation) has gone to the Supreme Court to sue Rivers State Government over VAT. Now, that Attorney General has gone to court, we are happy.
“But, nobody wants to talk about him dividing the country. It is only when Rivers State government goes to court that they will say we want to divide the country.
“There is nothing wrong in interpreting the law. The judiciary has been given assignment and they took oath of office to interpret the law.
“If you don’t go to court, how will we know the position of the law? How will democracy thrive? How will we know that this country respects rule of law?”
In other news, following the criminal activities of bandits in Katsina, the state Assembly has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare them as terrorists.
The parliament made the appeal after adopting the report of the House Committee on Security Matters headed by the lawmaker representing Dutsima Constituency, Muhammad Abubakar.
Speaking on the floor of the House on Monday, Abubakar said the committee’s report was based on its deliberations with security agencies on the incessant attack on citizens in the state by bandits.
Source; Bibian Anekwe News
