Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday restrained both the Rivers and Lagos State Governments from collecting Value Added Tax VAT, despite the signing of the bill by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Sanwo-Olu signed into law the Lagos State Value Added Tax Bill, barely 24 hours after it was passed by the State House of Assembly
The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso who revealed this in a statement on Friday, said the governor signed the bill after returning from an official trip.
“The Governor signed the bill for a law to impose and charge VAT on certain goods and services at about 11. 45am today,(Friday) after returning from an official trip to Abuja. By this act, the Bill has now become a Law,” the statement
But Justice Haruna Tsanami who led two other panel of judges of the Appeal Court ordered that the status quo should be remained, untill determination of substantive suit filed by the Federal Government to challenge the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt's judgement which empowered Rivers and other states to collect VAT in the country
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State had began Implementation of the law admidst Controversy, it has generated between the Rivers State and Federal Government whose agency ,Federal Inland Revenue Internal Revenue Service is insisting on collecting VAT across the states in the country
The Rivers State Government had earlier challenged the legality of FIRS collecting VAT in the country
The Federal High Court sitting in Port-harcourt had ruled in favour of the state saying Federal Government has no right to power to collect VAT in Rivers or any other state in the country
Following the judgement, the Rivers State Government initiated a bill which was later passed by the State House of Assembly and assented to by the governor to empower the collection of VAT in the state
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