Moyosore Onigbanjo, attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Lagos State, says a legislation empowering the state to demand and collect value added tax (VAT) from businesses operating within the state will be ready in a few days.
BusinessDay had earlier reported on Tuesday, August 31, that Lagos State was insisting on collecting VAT following a recent ruling by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that VAT falls within the jurisdiction of state governments and not federal, as represented by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Speaking to journalists at Alausa, Ikeja, on Wednesday, Onigbanjo said the FIRS must obey the judgment of the court ruling and hands off VAT.
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“We are demanding VAT from people that seek to do business in Lagos. We have our law which will be out in a couple of days. We will make sure that the judgment of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt is enforced to the letter.
“We are not going to relent, we are not going to give an inch to FIRS to collect VAT in Lagos State. FIRS must obey the judgment of the court of Law,” Onigbanjo said.
Lagos, West Africa’s economic nerve centre with a population estimated at about 22 million people, accounts for 55 percent of Nigeria’s total VAT which is distributed to all states of the federation, some of which contribute less than one percent of VAT to the national purse.
