VAT vs Sharia Hisbah: Wike lambasts northern governors, 'Convert political population to IGR' - ITREALMS

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The Executive Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has lambasted his northern counterparts, especially those who destroy beer in the name of Sharia and turn around, go to Abuja monthly to collect their shares in the Value Added Tax (VAT) made from the same product in the south, reports ITREALMS.

Governor Nyemson Wike

Speaking during a statewide broadcast after the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) failed to secure a stay-of-execution to stop Rivers from collecting VAT from businesses in the state, Mr. Wike hinted his victory would affect states’ with low revenue.
ITREALMS recalls that Rivers State had the second-highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports.

As said by him, Mr. Wike, to be governed by Sharia law has witnessed the loss of millions from the destruction of alcoholic beverages, while these states partake in VAT from alcohol consumption from other states.

Wike, said, he was aware that the Rivers State government’s decision to collect VAT would lead to setbacks for some of these Sharia-compliant states.

“Naturally, states with ethically restrictive social policies with economic implications may be adversely affected for now,” he said.

ITREALMS recalls that over the years, the agency for enforcement of Sharia law, Hisbah police, have continued to destroy millions of bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks considered a sin in Islam.

Speaking recently with The Punch, Kano-based distributor of alcoholic drinks, John Simon, lamented how he lost over N35 million to the Hisbah police after they destroyed thousands of his alcoholic drinks in November last year.

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