Author: Lawbreed Limited

A bill seeking to empower the state government to collect value-added tax (VAT) has scaled the first and second reading at the Lagos house of assembly. The legislators directed the committee on finance which is handling the bill to report back on Thursday. During the session on Monday, Mudashiru Obasa, the speaker of the house, said the VAT bill would lead to an increase in revenue and infrastructure development. On August 19, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, signed into law a bill on value-added tax (VAT) collection in the state. A federal high court sitting in Port Harcourt had issued…

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has dismissed a suit by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, seeking to stop the Rivers State Government from commencing collection of Value Added Tax, VAT. FIRS in suit no FHC/PH/CS/149/2020 had approached the court seeking a Stay of Execution on the earlier judgement of the court that stopped FIRS from collecting VAT as it was constitutionally the role of state governments. The FIRS had following the judgement against them sought the high court to stop the Rivers State Government from executing the judgement. But, Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam, in…

BY Chidi Amuta Those paid to protect the guardrails of democracy hardly look in the direction of the courts for enemies. Nor do most people suspect that judges could become facilitators of authoritarianism and subtle promoters of anarchy. As custodians of the rule of law, judges and the courts over which they preside are the insurance for democracy’s ultimate good. The entire edifice of democracy thrives because the judicial system is expected to act in a manner that reassures ordinary men and women that the excesses of politicians will not be allowed to endanger law and order or the presumed…

There are indications that the Chief Judge (CJ) of Delta State will be among six other CJs of state High Courts to appear before the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, over the menace of conflicting court orders in recent times. The CJN had last week Monday summoned the CJs of Rivers, Kebbi, Cross Rivers, Anambra, Jigawa and Imo States to explain the rationale behind the indiscriminate issuance of exparte orders by judges in their various states. The injunctive orders were mainly against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the planned November 6 governorship election in Anambra…

Dr. Uchenna Emelonye is presently the Country Representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Liberia, having served in the same capacity in Uganda. On these positions accredited at ambassadorial level in respective countries, he advocates and supports equitable, inclusive, participatory and gender sensitive good governance and sustainable development. In this interview Adelanwa Bamgboye, he speaks about insecurity, the Bar, his Keynote address at the recent Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association Abuja (Unity Bar) and sundry issues. I can see that your keynote speech focused on calibrating the response of the Bar in the…

The Supreme Court has denied a list being circulated online as names of lawyers penned for the award of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) rank for 2021. Festus Akande, Director of Press and Information at the Supreme Court, described the list as “fake”. The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), a body chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), and concerned with giving the highly coveted award to deserving lawyers annually, is domiciled at the Supreme Court. Mr Akande said the 2021 list of SANs-designate in circulation did not emanate from the LPPC. “We wish to state clearly that the…

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed on Monday swore in five new Kadis for the Sharia Court of Appeal in Abuja. This was sequel to the approval of their appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari. The appointment of the Khadis who are equivalent to Justices followed their recommendations to the Presidency by the National Judicial Council. The new Khadis are Abdullahi Adam Al-Ilori, Salisu Garba, Bashir Danmaisule, Muhammad A. Sadis and Lawal Sule. Sharia Court of Appeal is a Superior Court of Record established pursuant to Section 275, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,…

The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has declared that it is the Rivers State Government (RSG) and not the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) that should collect Valued Added Tax (VAT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) in the state. The court presided over by Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam, has also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining FIRS and the Attorney General of the Federation, both first and second defendants in the suit, from collecting, demanding, threatening, and intimidating residents of Rivers State to pay to FIRS, personnel income tax and VAT. Justice Pam made the assertion while…

Following the judgment of the Federal High Court in Attorney General of Rivers State v. Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Attorney General of the Federation [Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/149/2020], the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has made an official comment Wednesday saying “This is not the first time that the VAT Act has been declared unconstitutional.” In the CITN statement, the Registrar/Chief Executive Adefisayo Awogbade, FCTI, assured that the institute would study the full judgment and promptly communicate its primed position to the public. Read the full release below: INTRODUCTION In a judgment delivered by Justice Stephen Pam of…

In a judgment delivered on 11 December 2020, the Federal High Court (FHC) in Emmanuel Chukwuka Ukala v. FIRS held that the powers of the National Assembly to make laws imposing taxes is limited to the profits/income of persons/companies, capital gains and stamp duties on instruments but does not extend to VAT. READ AND DOWNLOAD THE JUDGMENT BELOW: [mks_button size=”medium” title=”CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD JUDGMENT” style=”squared” url=”https://lawbreed.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Ukala-v.-FIRS-Judgment-of-HC-of-Rivers-State.pdf” target=”_blank” bg_color=”#000000″ txt_color=”#FFFFFF” icon=”” icon_type=”” nofollow=”0″]