Ajuri Ngelale who is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Public Affairs, on Monday, knocked Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for allegedly being tribalistic and aggressive in his pursuit for the collection of Value Added Taxes (VAT) by the South-South state.
Ngelale noted that the Federal Government has not been taking the money made in the oil-rich Niger Delta to Northern Nigeria.
He also said that the Federal Government makes contributions to VAT generated in the country, noting that the 36 states do not generate VAT all by themselves.
The President’s aide stated this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ breakfast programme monitored by Africa Daily News, New York.
VAT is a consumption tax paid when goods are purchased and services are rendered. It is charged at a rate of 7.5 percent.
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Ngelale, who said that he is from Rivers State, flayed Wike over his alleged ethnic posture, saying that VAT collection by the Federal Inland Revenue Service is about ‘harmonized tax policy’ to make businesses easy for Nigerians.
He warned that VAT collection by states would lead to double taxation which could make survival difficult for business owners in the country.
Speaking on the television programme on Monday, the President’s aide said the Federal Government makes contributions to the generation of VAT in the country, noting that Rivers, Lagos and other states do not generate VAT by themselves.
Ngelale said, ‘I do disagree on the notion that states are by themselves generating VAT en masse and the Federal Government is trying to hijack (it).
‘In 2020, the nation generated about ₦1.5trn in VAT. We have about 60 percent of VAT coming from imports at the ports. As we know, ports infrastructure in the country is not controlled by the state governments, so they cannot say that it is their revenue; it is controlled by the Federal Government, it is federal revenue.
‘Aside from the fact that we have a book coming from imports, we also have that second to Lagos is Abuja with about ₦202bn collected and the reason why is because Abuja is the site of federal ministries, departments and agencies and a huge bulk of that collection in the country was coming from VAT collected on contracts.
‘So, when we create the impression that states collect these VATs and the Federal Government is hijacking it and trying to share it when in fact, it only (belongs to) Lagos or Rivers, I think it is a gross over-simplification.’
Ngelale inferred that the collection of VAT by the FIRS should be encouraged because it is perfecting the union of Nigeria.
The President’s aide, who said the VAT issue has been ‘heavily politicised’, also complained about ‘some of the utterances, unfortunately, that have come from my state along ethnic lines etc and political posturing ahead of the next election’.
Continuing, he said, ‘I really don’t want to repeat some of the stuffs we’ve heard from the Rivers State Governor that we (FG) want to take Niger-Delta money to the north and all this ethnic sabre-rattling. That is what I am talking about when I say politics.’
Ngelale took a veiled swipe at Wike, who confirmed in January 2021 that the Federal Government had refunded to the state government, the ₦78bn it spent on federal projects.
But the President’s aide said he was not sure the projects were constructed by Wike.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
