…Reserves ruling in joinder application by Lagos
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday refused to accede to the oral request of Rivers and Lagos States, seeking for the appointment of Receiver/Manager for the purpose of collecting and keeping Value Added Taxes (VAT) in place of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) pending the resolution of the legal disputes in the matter.
The legal argument is being anchored on the fact that there is the need to put VAT collection on hold in view of the appeal already logged at the Supreme Court against the order.
Lawyer to Rivers State, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe SAN, in his oral application, urged the appellate court to exercise its discretionary power under Order 4 Rule 6 of the Court of Appeal and appoint a Receiver/Manager to take custody of the VAT in the interest of justice to parties in the matter.
The Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), who represented the state, concurred with Rivers and argued for fair hearing pending appeal.
Onigbanjo specifically asked the Appeal Court to stop FIRS from further collecting VAT and replace it with a Receiver/Manager that will act for parties in the ongoing legal battle.
The Lagos AG also kicked against unjust treatment, arguing that the FIRS, apart from collecting VAT, has been sharing it among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) despite the pendency of the legal tussle.
But the presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA), Justice Hamma Simon Tsanami, declined the oral request and directed the two states to file their written applications to that effect
Meanwhile, the appellate court has reserved its ruling in a joinder application by the Lagos State, seeking to be joined as a respondent in the appeal filed by FIRS against a judgement granted in favour of Rivers State by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.
Moving the joinder application, Onigbanjo argued that Lagos has vested interest in the VAT collection, insisting that the decision of the court would affect Lagos State.
The Lagos AG also informed the 3-man Panel of Justices that FIRS in its appeal against the Federal High Court judgment, made some allegations against It and that it would be in the interest of justice for it to be allowed to join in the appeal to ventilate its defence.
But the lawyer to the FIRS, Mr Mahmoud Magaji (SAN), opposed the Lagos request to join, arguing that the state has not shown how its interest would be jeopardizsd if not allowed in the matter.
The appellate court also struck out the application filed by the Attorney -General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), through his lawyer, Mr Tijani Gazali (SAN), on the grounds that the application was incompetent, having been filed out of time.
Having listened to arguments from the parties, the appellate court later reserved its ruling, saying that parties would be communicated when the ruling is ready.
