Rivers Govt Heads To Supreme Court Over VAT Revenue
Governor Wike of Rivers State
Ahead of the 16th September by the Appeal court for the hearing of the appeal on the Value Added Tax, (VAT) the Rivers State government has gone to the Supreme Court, seeking to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal that ordered it to maintain status quo on the collection of the luxury tax.
The Appeal gave the order pending the determination of the appeal by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.
The three-man panel of Appeal Court, Abuja Division led by Justice Hassan Tsammani last Friday ordered all parties in the VAT controversy to maintain the status quo and refrain from taking any action that would give effect to the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt which ceded powers to collect the luxury tax to the Rivers state government
Rivers state, in its nine grounds of appeal, asked the apex court to order that the substantive appeal by the FIRS, marked CA/PH/282/2021, and all other processes therein, be heard and determined by a new panel of the Court of Appeal.
The suit which also joined the Attorney-General of the Federation as Respondents alongside the FIRS, was filed by the state team of lawyers led y Emmanuel Ukala.
Rivers state like Lagos state had enacted a tax law that empowers it to collect every tax including the VAT which has turned controversial.
The Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, on 9th August declared that it was the Rivers Government, and not FIRS that should collect VAT and Personal Income Tax in that state.
On Friday however, the three-man panel of Appeal Court justices led by Justice Hassan Tsammani ordered all parties to maintain the status quo and refrain from taking any action that would give effect to the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.
Justice Tsammani held that since all parties in the matter had submitted themselves before the court, it was proper and the law for the court to preserve the res (subject matter) from being rendered nugatory.
Consequently, the court held that parties should refrain from giving effect to the judgment of the trial court in Port Harcourt pending the hearing and determination of the application of the FIRS to stay execution of the trial court’s judgment.
Parties are also to maintain the status quo pending the hearing of an application by the Attorney-General of Lagos State who sought to be joined as a party in the matter.
Counsel to the appellant/applicant, Mahmud Magaji made an oral application for an order that status quo be maintained pending the hearing and determination of the motion for injunction and stay.
However, Emmanuel Ukala counsel to Rivers government, and Oyosore Onigbanjo counsel to Lagos State Government, both opposed the application for status quo.
