The senator representing the Ondo South Senatorial District, Nicholas Tofowomo, has commended the Lagos State Government for passing and signing the Valued Added Tax Bill into law, saying it was a good development for the state and the country.

Tofowomo, who also gave kudos to Governor Nysom Wike for the steps taken on the VAT matter in Rivers State, said the current regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was unfair on the issue of distribution of proceeds of tax among the states, saying the regime favours the northern states more than the states in the south.

He stated this while speaking with journalists, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

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He said, “I am very angry more than governors Wike and Sanwolu and other southern governors on this VAT issue. Value-added tax is a tax being collected on a product that is being consumed in every state of the federation. Whatever is generated in Lagos State should be given to Lagos State and whatever is collected in Rivers should be for Rivers State. That is how it should be across the board.

“You can’t generate revenues in Rivers or Lagos and give them to another state while those revenues generated in the Northern states are returned to the northern states as we can see in the case of Kano State.

“If VAT collected in Kano is returned to Kano, then what stops the Federal Government from returning those taxes collected in Lagos State to Lagos and that of Rivers State to Rivers? The double standard is obvious. The nepotism under President Buhari is alarming.

“The President is tribalising everything in this country. It is very sad and unacceptable. He is taking the southerners for granted. They are taking us for a fool. Our national unity is being threatened day by day with tribalism at its peak.”

On Anti-Open Grazing Bill which had been passed into law by Ondo State, the Peoples Democratic Party senator commended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the state and other southern governors for their uniform decision on the matter, noting that all southern senators supported the action.

“The position of the southern governors is commendable and all the southern senators are behind them. Governor Akeredolu and other southern governors have our supports. I am in support of their uniform decision on open grazing.

“But they should take a little step further by establishing cattle farms. When you ban open grazing and there are no alternatives provided for the people to graze their cattle, there will be a problem,” the lawmakers advised.