VAT: Senator Tofowomo Says Buhari Favours The Northern Over Southern
Nicholas Tofowomo, the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, has praised the Lagos State Government for passing and signing the Value Added Tax Bill into law, calling it a positive development for the state and the country.
Tofowomo, who praised Rivers State Governor Nysom Wike for his efforts on the VAT issue, claimed President Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.) current regime is unjust in the allocation of tax proceeds among the states, claiming that the system favors northern states over southern states.
He said this in an interview with media in Akure, the capital of Ondo State.
“I am very angry more than governors Wike and Sanwolu and other southern governors on this VAT issue. Value-added tax is a tax being collected on a product that is being consumed in every state of the federation. Whatever is generated in Lagos State should be given to Lagos State and whatever is collected in Rivers should be for Rivers State. That is how it should be across the board,” he said.
“You can’t generate revenues in Rivers or Lagos and give them to another state while those revenues generated in the Northern states are returned to the northern states as we can see in the case of Kano State.”
On VAT, Kogi opposes Lagos and Rivers saying, “If VAT collected in Kano is returned to Kano, then what stops the Federal Government from returning those taxes collected in Lagos State to Lagos and that of Rivers State to Rivers? The double standard is obvious. The nepotism under President Buhari is alarming.
“The President is tribalizing everything in this country. It is very sad and unacceptable. He is taking the southerners for granted. They are taking us for a fool. Our national unity is being threatened day by day with tribalism at its peak.”
The Peoples Democratic Party senator hailed Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and other southern governors for their unanimity in passing the Anti-Open Grazing Bill, saying that all southern senators supported the measure.
“The southern governors’ position is commendable, and all of the southern senators support them. Governor Akeredolu and other governors from the south have our full support. I agree with their decision to allow open grazing.
“However, they should go a step further and establish cattle farms. There will be an issue if open grazing is prohibited and no alternatives are provided for people to graze their cattle,” the lawmakers advised.
