Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, may be on a collision course, following an open disagreement over the state’s contributions to Value Added Tax.
The Finance Ministry, supported by the Federal Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, had issued a statement, placing Lagos State above Ogun in VAT contributions.
But reacting, Amosun put a lie to the minister’s claim.
According to him, the data presented by the Finance Ministry, the FBS and the FIRS, as they pertained to the contributions of the state to the VAT, amounted to “a misrepresentation.”
He said the claim that Lagos State contributed more than Ogun State could not be true, as Ogun had the highest number of industries in the country.
The governor, who was speaking during a facility tour of an indigenous armoured vehicles manufacturing company, situated in the Ode-Remo area of the state, faulted the presentation by the agencies; that out of 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 N20 million monthly as tax to the Federal purse”, he said, urging the agencies to cross-check their data.
The governor added that such inaccurate statistics was unacceptable, especially if foreign agencies, like the World Bank, could come and do accurate statistics about the state.
The governor’s open disagreement with the Finance Minister is, however, coming as a surprise, considering the fact the Adeosun was Amosun’s Finance Commissioner before she was given a ministerial appointment.
It was even touted that her appointment as minister was influenced by Amosun, as many see the minister as the governor’s goddaughter.
With Tuesday’s open disagreement with Adeosun, observers feared that things had fallen apart between the governor and the minister.
Meanwhile, Amosun, during the tour of inspection, had frowned at companies that manufactured products in the state, only to inscribe ‘Made in Lagos’ on them, “just because they have their head offices in Lagos”, saying such practices must stop henceforth.
He also said the state would immediately place an order for the purchase of three Armoured Personnel Carriers and three gunboats from the company, to further step up security in the state.
According to him, the APCs will be distributed across the three Senatorial Districts of the state, while the gun boats will be placed in the riverine and waterways areas of the state.
