THE Southern Governors of Nigeria have resolved to support the collection of value added tax (VAT) by state governments.
This decision was reached during a meeting by the governors held in Enugu State on Thursday.
According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the governors resolved “to support the position that the collection of VAT falls within the powers of the states.”
The governors also re-emphasised “the need for the Southern States to leverage the legislative competence of their respective State Houses of Assembly as well as representation in the National assembly to pursue its inclusion in the Nigerian Constitution through the ongoing constitutional amendment.”
They also expressed satisfaction over the rate at which states in the region were enacting anti-open grazing laws and added that the enactment was in line with “ the uniform template and aspiration of Southern Governors.”
States governors who had not yet enacted the law were encouraged to do so expeditiously.
The operation of regional security agencies was encouraged at the meeting to enable the sharing of intelligence and provision of security within the region as had been previously agreed on by the governors.
They re-affirmed their position on the next president emerging from the southern region and expressed satisfaction over the handling of issues relating to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and ownership of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the Forum.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.
