Ogun faults data by finance ministry, FIRS, others on VAT

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has described data presented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), as regards the contributions of the state to the Value Added Tax (VAT) as a misrepresentation.

He said the claim that Lagos State contributes more than Ogun State cannot be true as the state has the highest number of industries in the country.

The governor, who was speaking during a facility tour of an indigenous armoured vehicles’ manufacturing company, located in Ode-Remo area of the state, faulted the presentation by the agencies that out of the 916 high net worth individuals paying tax to the Federal purse, only two are from Ogun State.

“Not less than 27 high net worth individuals in the state pay at least 20 million Naira monthly as tax to the Federal purse”, he said, urging the agencies to cross check their data.

The governor added that such inaccurate statistics is unacceptable, especially if foreign agencies, like the World Bank ,could come and do accurate statistics about the state.
Amosun also frowned at companies, who manufacture products in the state, but inscribed “Made in Lagos” on them, just because they have their head offices in Lagos, and said such practices must stop henceforth.

He also said the state would immediately make order for the purchase of three Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and three gun boats from the company, to further step up security in the state.

According to him, the APCs will be distributed across the three Senatorial Districts in the state, while the gun boats would be placed in the riverine and waterways areas of the state.

Ladesope Ladelokun