Wike signs VAT, open grazing ban bills into law

Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has signed into law bills on Value Added Tax (VAT) collection, Open Grazing Prohibition in Rivers State.

Wike who spoke after signing the bills at the Government House, Port Harcourt maintained that the judgment of the Federal High Court on VAT has sufficiently addressed the illegality perpetrated by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) on behalf of the federal government in the collection of tax in states.

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The signed bills were recently passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The governor pointed out that when agencies of the federal government are allowed to illegally demand and collect taxes meant for states, they strangulate the states financially and turn them to be beggars.

“But we (Rivers State) are standing on the path of history as representatives of the state to have taken the bull by the horn to challenge the illegality of the federal government through the Federal inland Revenue Services (FIRS)’’, he said.