Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi has distanced himself from the communiqué issued by the Southern Governors which said that states should collect Value Added Taxes, VAT.
Umahi had earlier said that the state will not enact laws on VAT, adding that Federal Inland Revenue Service and not states should collect.
But the Southern Governors at the end of their meeting in Enugu on Thursday threw their weight behind the resolutions of the Rivers and Lagos State governments to enact laws that will allow them to collect VAT.
However, appearing as a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise programme on Friday, Umahi, who was represented at the meeting in Enugu by his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, said the resolution of the Forum does not reflect his stand on the issue.
Umahi who is also the chairman of South East governors forum said that allowing states to implement VAT will bankrupt about 30 states in the country.
He said: “In any gathering, the minority will have their say and the majority will have their way. For example, there was an issue that came up. I’m not sure it is clear to some of our colleagues on the issue of VAT but it is very clear to me.
“We (Ebonyi) took a stand as a state with our leaders on the issue of the VAT war that is going and so my deputy carried it on to say that this is what my governor is saying and this is what the state is saying and he went ahead to explain with some other deputies that represented their governors.
“But together they were in the minority and it didn’t stop the majority from coming up with their communiqué. When it comes up to implementation and voicing out, I will continue to say: this is where I stand; if it is a choice, I will choose what would benefit my state.
“When they (Southern governors) say that this VAT collection is part of true restructuring, I said I never believe in total restructuring; I believe in administrative restructuring,”.
Umahi urged the Southern Governors to be their brothers’ keepers, adding that poorer states will collapse if states begin collecting VAT.
According to him, some states would eat and have so much surplus and then some other states don’t have much to eat.
“We have to be our brothers’ keeper; we have to see how we can grow the economies of the weakest states, otherwise, we will breed insecurity in those states.”
“There is no way in a relationship that you will get 100 per cent of what you put in, it doesn’t work that way.
“I have said that my state would not be viable and I will continue to say that more than 30 other states would not be viable; we should not break the states.
“Whatever thing we are doing, we have to think about the nation first. Let’s tarry a while and see how we can pass this river and then we can come to the fact of who is right and who is wrong.
“True federalism is not done in a day. If we want to do a restructuring, we have to have a gradual process to do that.”
