Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, has described the data churned out by the Federal Ministry of
Finance, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federal Inland
Revenue Service (FIRS) as regards to the contributions of the state to
Value Added Tax (VAT) as misrepresentation...
He said the claim that Kano, Oyo and
Osun States, among other states, contributed more than Ogun State could
not be true, as Ogun has the highest number of industries in the
country, noting that the only state that surpasses his state is Lagos.
The governor added that with the pace of
development and new investors setting up industries in the state, Ogun
might match Lagos in the foreseeable future and possibly surpass it in
terms of its contributions to the Federation Account.
The governor said it was unfortunate
that his state was ranked in the 26th position by the NBS among other
states in the country in terms of its contribution to VAT and that this
misinformation provided by the finance ministry has formed the basis for
the sharing of the tax derivable from the consumption of goods and
services (VAT) among the 36 states of the federation.
The governor, who was speaking during a
facility tour of an indigenous armoured vehicles manufacturing company
situated in Ode-Remo area of the state, said the anomaly needed to be
corrected because the industries in Ogun State put pressure on the
infrastructure in the state, yet it gets a fraction of its actual
contribution to VAT at the Federal Account Allocation Committee every
month.
Amosun also faulted the presentation by
the federal government agencies that of the 914 high net worth
individuals and entities paying tax to the federal purse, only two are
from Ogun State.
“Not less than 45 high net worth
individuals in the state pay at least N10 million as tax to the federal
purse, three pay at least N20 million and above, while one pays N40
million and above” he said, and urged the agencies to cross-check their
data.
The governor added that such inaccurate
data was unacceptable, especially if multilateral agencies like the
World Bank could provide more accurate statistics about the state.
The Ogun governor went on to challenge
the data-generating agencies to be transparent on the company income tax
(CIT) paid by companies in the country, adding that since his state
hosts several industries, it should also have a high ranking in terms of
its contribution to CIT paid to the FIRS annually.
Amosun also frowned upon companies that
manufacture products in the state, but inscribed “Made in Lagos” on them
just because they have their head offices or are registered in Lagos,
adding said such practices must stop henceforth.
He further revealed that the state would
immediately place orders for three armoured personnel carriers (APCs)
and three gunboats from the armoured vehicle manufacturing company to
step up security in the state.
According to him, the APCs will be
distributed across the three senatorial districts in the state, while
the gunboats will be used in the riverine and the waterways of the
state.
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