Appeal Court Stops Collection of VAT by Rivers, Lagos

Pat Stevens/

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, today, ordered both Rivers and Lagos states to maintain status quo on the collection of Value Added Tax, (VAT) pending the determination of an appeal that was lodged before it by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The appellate court said the order was to preserve the ‘Res’ (subject matter) of the appeal before it.

Specifically, it ordered all the parties that have subjected themselves before it to “refrain from taking any action to give effect to the judgment of the Rivers State High Court” which gave the Rivers State Government the right to collect VAT revenue instead of the FIRS.

The Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, had on August 9 declared that it was the Rivers government and not FIRS that should collect VAT and Personal Income Tax in that state.

A three-man panel of Justices of the appellate court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani made the order after it deferred the hearing of an application Lagos State filed to be joined as an interested party in the matter, till September 16.

Lagos State had through its Attorney-General, Moyosore Onibanjo, SAN, protested against the issuance of an order for the maintenance of the status quo, insisting that such order could not be binding on it, since it was yet to be joined as a party in the appeal by FIRS.

Counsel to the appellant/applicant, Mr Mahmud Magaji (SAN), 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, Mr Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), counsel to Rivers government, and counsel to Lagos State government, both opposed the application for status quo.

Mr Tijani Ghazali (SAN), who represented the attorney-general for his part, supported the application for status quo to be maintained.

The applicants have been given two days to file their written addresses in respect to the pending applications just as the respondents have also been given two days to file, and the applicant has one day to reply on points of law.

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