The former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has has weighed in on the controversy over the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the country.
Some state governments, led by Rivers, are already up in arms against the Federal government, which has been collecting VAT revenue through the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS). The states insist that it is their right to collect VAT in their respective domains.
But Sanusi, also a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), thinks otherwise.
Speaking on Arise Tv on Friday, the former Emir said the implication of having tax at states is multiple taxation, which will raise the cost of living.
Sanusi, however, noted that although he is an advocate of less money at the centre, the governors slamming the Federal government are also guilty of not distributing funds to the local government areas.
He said: “I don’t want to talk about this matter because it’s in court but what we need is to learn how to distribute our resources properly.
“I’m a strong advocate of less money at the centre because this puts too much concentration on money from Abuja but the bulk of this Tax problem comes from not implementing what we have.
“These governors fighting for VAT are extremely undemocratic they hold on to money meant for the local government yet keeps complaining.
“The state governors complain what federal government do to them but don’t care about what they do to the local government, thereby ignoring the constitution.
“If we really want to put in for federalism we need to respect our constitution and do it at all tiers of government then I believe our constitution can work.
“Let’s make what we have work and we’ll see this constitution is not that bad.