Delta residents disagree with Governor Okowa on aligning with southern govs on VAT collection

Some residents of Delta State have expressed disagreement with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for aligning with other southern governors on the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by state governments.

The stakeholders had argued that Delta State is already receiving sufficient allocation from the federal government than what the state generates from VAT.

The stakeholders argued that the implementation of the VAT collection by states will not favour many states in the country.

It was highlighted that the VAT report of the National Bureau of Statistics for Delta State from January to August indicated that over N13 billion was generated in the state, but the state received over N27 billion allocation from the federation account.

The stakeholders, however, did not clarify if the quoted N27 billion federal allocation was the VAT share of  Delta State, or they were citing total allocation from  the federation account. There is clear mix up in their argument since only Kano State received the total of all VAT collected in the state from the federal government. Kano was said to have generated N2.8 billion VAT and received N2.8 billion VAT shares from the federal government while Lagos which contributed over N15 billion received about N7 billion in return.

The inequity in the VAT revenue sharing provoked the action of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to commence legislation on VAT collection in Rivers State, the legislated law has since been signed by the governor.

Lagos followed in the legislation on VAT, then, other states in the south.