Governors of northern states, under the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), have convened to discuss matters ranging from insecurity to the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
Included in the emergency meeting are traditional rulers, Channels TV said, held at the Executive Council Chamber in the Kaduna State Government House.
On the matter of insecurity, the Govenror of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, said that the meeting was convoked due to the rising economic and enduring security issues in the region.
On the other hand, the chairman of the meeting and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, said that the forum would come to a consensus on the VAT issue.
State governors present at the event were Sokoto, Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, Nasarawa, Gombe, Jigawa.
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While these state governors were represented by proxy: Zamfara, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Taraba.
The traditional rulers present at the meeting were the Emir of Kano, the Shehu of Borno, the Emir of Zazzau, Nuhu Bamali, and Estu Nupe.
Also present was the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Abubakar Saad, and other royal representatives.
States in Southern Nigeria have been at odds with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over the collection of VAT.
Leading the move to push for states collection of the VAT, instead of tunneling it into the coffers of the Federal Government through the FIRS, was the Rivers State.
The FIRS pushed back at the Appeal Court, arguing that states did not have the “capacity” to collect VAT.
The court has directed both the defendants (states) and the plaintiff (FIRS) to stick to status quo until the appeal is sorted.
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