Rivers Government Drags FG To Supreme Court Over VAT

…seeks disbandment of A’Courtroom panel that ordered upkeep of established order

Rivers State, by way of its Legal professional-Common, has gone to the Supreme Courtroom to put aside the choice of the Courtroom of Enchantment that ordered it to keep up established order on the gathering of Worth Added Tax, VAT, pending the willpower of an enchantment that was lodged by the Federal Inland Income Service, FIRS.

The State, in its 10 grounds of enchantment, a duplicate of which was sighted by Vanguard on Tuesday, is equally praying the apex court docket to order that the substantive enchantment by the FIRS marked CA/PH/282/2021, and all different processes therein, be heard and decided by a brand new panel of the Courtroom of Enchantment.

It maintained that the three-man panel of Justices of the Courtroom of Enchantment led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, had within the ruling they delivered final Friday, erred in regulation after they relied on the provisions of Part 6(6) of the 1999 Structure and the inherent jurisdiction of the appellate court docket, to order all of the events to keep up established order on the VAT dispute.

It argued that the Courtroom of Enchantment authorized lacked the powers to revive the events to the place they had been earlier than the judgement of the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Port Harcourt in swimsuit No. FHC/PH/CS/149/2020, which was delivered on August 9.

“The Realized Justices of the Courtroom of Enchantment In counting on the inherent jurisdiction of the court docket to make the order on the subject material of this Enchantment, failed to understand that the inherent jurisdiction of the court docket can’t be utilized in contravention of statutory provisions.

“The Realized Justices of the Courtroom of Enchantment failed to understand the character of inherent jurisdiction and that it can’t be invoked to avoid the clear provisions of the statute because it was executed almost about Order 6 Rule 1 of the Courtroom of Enchantment Guidelines 2016 on this case”.

It argued that the appellate court docket panel didn’t consider a choice of the Supreme Courtroom in SHUGABA V. UNION BANK [1999],11 NWLR (pt. 627), web page 459, to the impact “that no court docket has an inherent jurisdiction (besides in excessive circumstances) to put aside the train of discretion of one other court docket almost about order made in respect of an software for keep of execution”.

Extra so, the state argued that the Courtroom of Enchantment panel erred in regulation after they wrongly assumed jurisdiction to entertain on the oral software that counsel of the FIRS made for the upkeep of established order by events within the dispute, despite the truth that situation precedent for the invocation of the inherent jurisdiction of the appellate court docket was not fulfilled by the first Respondent (FIRS).

Rivers State contended that the appellate court docket, by continuing “to make a far-reaching choice”, primarily based on the oral software by FIRS, denied its a good listening to.

It stated the panel, by counting on the oral software to order the upkeep of established order, which successfully operated as a keep of execution and as an injunction in opposition to the declaratory orders of the Federal Excessive Courtroom, occasioned a miscarriage of justice, to its prejudice.

Consequently, it prayed the apex court docket to permit the enchantment, put aside the choice of the court docket of enchantment on upkeep of the established order, and additional dismiss the oral software that was made by the FIRS.

It additionally prayed the apex court docket to order that the enchantment the FIRS filed in opposition to the Excessive Courtroom judgement that stripped it of the proper to gather VAT within the state, be heard by a contemporary panel.

Apart from the FIRS, the Legal professional-Common of the Federation was cited as Respondents within the enchantment that Rivers State entered by way of its staff of attorneys led by Emmanuel Ukala, SAN.

It will likely be recalled that the Courtroom of Enchantment in Abuja had final Friday, stopped each Rivers and Lagos States from continuing to gather VAT of their states, pending the willpower of the enchantment by FIRS.

The appellate court docket stated the order was to protect the ‘Res’ (material) of the enchantment earlier than it.

Particularly, it ordered all of the events which have subjected themselves earlier than it to “chorus from taking any motion to offer impact to the judgement of the Federal Excessive Courtroom”, which gave Rivers State Authorities the proper to gather VAT income, as a substitute of the FIRS.

The Justice Tsammani-led panel made the order after it deferred the listening to of an software Lagos State filed to be joined as an celebration within the matter, until September 16.

Lagos State had by way of its Legal professional-Common, Moyosore Onibanjo, SAN, protested in opposition to the issuance of an order for the upkeep of the established order, insisting that such order couldn’t be binding on it, because it was but to be joined as a celebration within the enchantment by FIRS.

Earlier than adjourning the joinder software by Lagos State for listening to, the appellate court docket gave each the Appellant (FIRS) and the Respondents (Rivers and AGF), two days every to file their responses.

The appellate court docket panel stated it noticed the necessity to preserve the ‘Res’ of the enchantment earlier than it, noting that “the case is of very severe nationwide significance”.