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States Banning Alcohol Won’t Get VAT On Beer
A former Health Minister, Prof Isaac Adewole, has advocated fiscal federalism where states get funds commensurate to what they bring into the federation account.
Adewole, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, was a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.
Adewole urged governors to allow the local government areas to function as an independent tier of government.
He backed the persistent call for restructuring and resource control by sub-nationals. “I am an apostle of fiscal and physical federalism,” he said.
He added that though it was late for a return to regionalism, states should be allowed to grow on their own and based on the resources within their domains.
Specifically, the former minister said states that prohibit the sale of alcoholic drinks should not get out of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on beer through the federation account.
He said, “We need to look at how we share the resources of this country. If you have a law that prevents you from selling alcohol, that law should also prevent you from sharing money from alcohol. We should be honest with ourselves. States that prohibit the sale of alcohol should not share out of VAT from alcohol. Straight forward.
“Then we should also ask each state what they are bringing to the table. A situation where states only share money from oil is absurd and that is why we are where we are today because the other states are not bringing anything to the table.
“What is happening to our gold, bitumen, lithium? The resources from all of these, where are they? The only thing we know is oil money.”
At the moment, many of the 19 northern states where Sharia law is practised forbid the sale of alcohol in their domains. In some of the states, sub-nationals established religious police known as Hisbah to enforce the ban on alcoholic drinks.
Back in 2021, talks about 7.5% VAT collection on goods including alcohol by state governments made the headlines for months with Rivers and Lagos states being at the forefront of the move.
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, had ruled that states, and not the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), should collect VAT and Personal Income Tax.
Some northern state governments had preferred the Federal Government to continue VAT collection and the FIRS had challenged the ruling of the high court in the oil-rich South-South state.
An appellate court would later order Lagos and Rivers governments to maintain status quo on the matter and the move entered a stalemate.
The VAT collected by the FIRS contributes significantly to the total revenue generated by the Federal Government. The total sum collected monthly is distributed among the three tiers of government, with the Federal Government getting 15% of the VAT revenue, while states and local governments get 50% and 35%, respectively.
By Gloria Ikibah
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha has said that the ongoing governorship election in Edo State will feature electronic result transmission, pending network reliability.
Onuoha made this statement during an interview with ARISE Television on Saturday.
Onuoha emphasized that poor network connectivity is the only factor that could disrupt the electronic transmission of results.
“We have a total of 4,519 polling units across the 18 Local Government Areas and have deployed 4,622 BVAS units, with an additional 660 as backup,” he explained.
He also noted that operators for the BVAS have been adequately trained.
“The BVAS will be used to accredit voters and determine the total number of voters at each polling unit. After voting, results will be counted and uploaded to our IReV system.
“We are committed to conducting an election we can be proud of”, he stated.
When asked if all results would be transmitted electronically, he affirmed, “Yes, unless there’s no network. Otherwise, we will transmit them”, Onuoha reassured.
By Gloria Ikibah
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended voting hours in some parts of Edo State following delays caused by rainfall and logistical issues.
ANational Commissioner with INEC, Mohammed Haruna, announced the decision in a statement on Saturday.
“We are closely monitoring the Edo State governorship election from our situation room at the National Headquarters in Abuja.
“While voting started early in many polling units, there are reports of late commencement in certain areas”, Haruna said.
To prevent voter disenfranchisement, Haruna emphasized that voting would continue in affected areas beyond the official closing time.
“As per our regulations, voting will be extended in locations where it started late, and will continue until the last person in line by 2:30 p.m. has cast their vote”, he added.
INEC also assured that backup power generators would be deployed to polling units or collation centers facing power issues.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Olumide Akpata, Labour Party (LP) candidate in the ongoing Edo State Governorship Election has been beaten in his polling unit (P Akpata voted at Ward 6, PU 11 in Oredo local government area of the State.
Akpata’s polling unit was won by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with 41 votes. The Labour Party candidate polled 32 votes while the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 19 votes at the PU.
Akpata after casting his vote had adjudged the process at the polling unit as credible. Speaking with journalists after voting at about 10:30 am, Olumide said “I voted according to the voting process and everything went well.
“I want to hope that this is the experience of every Edo voter. I cannot make assumptions standing here. I am going to wait for feedback from around the different units and 192 wards in the state. We are hopeful that this will be the experience of every Edo voter
“I am calling on INEC that the playing field should remain level. Nobody should be given any undue advantage. All party agents should be allowed into the collation centres, so that we can all witness the process.
“Edo election is an off cycle election so INEC should have the luxury of deploying it’s resources to show the world that they can do it well. The playing field should be totally levelled to allow the best man or women to win.
“I am hearing some concerning feedback from around the state but I cannot make any statement until I verify the source of my information. We have crossed one hurdle, I have voted and my supporters should be allowed to vote, he said”.
He added that the deployment of tight security personnel was good, but he however expressed concerns if the security were for the voters or certain individuals.
Edo REC Promises Real-Time Electronic Result Transmission
INEC Extends Voting Time in Parts of Edo Due to Rainfall and Logistics Challenges
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