Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, insisted on going on with his move to stop the Federal Government from collecting Value Added Tax from the oil-rich South-South state.
Wike, who said he does not care if heaven falls, insisted that Rivers money is not meant for “Abuja people” but for the development of his state.
The governor spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt, the state capital, while addressing Shell Petroleum Development Company and other representatives of oil companies and business owners in the state.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt in its judgment last month in a suit marked FHC/PH/CS/149/2020 held that the Rivers State Government had the powers to collect VAT within its territory.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, on Monday, prayed the court to stay execution on the judgment.
But the presiding judge, Justice Stephem Pam, rejected the application, saying granting it would negate the principle of equity.
On Monday, the Lagos State Government toed the path of Rivers State as a bill to empower it to collect VAT scaled second reading in the state House of Assembly.