Imo state government has berated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for its ignorance in the dynamics of Value Added Tax in the economy of the state.
The government noted that contrary to the “mischievous and ignorant ” submission of the PDP, VAT is a consumption tax collected by the federal government that has no correlation with the economic growth or productivity of any state.
The PDP had accused Gov Hope Uzodimma of not doing enough to shore up the economy of the state, blaming him for lack of roads, non-payment of minimum wage, and insecurity in the state.
But the Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba dismissed the characterization by PDP, saying the state chapter has goofed again with the aim of deceiving the public with false and misleading information.
The government described PDP’s claims as the height of economic illiteracy, noting that if a state economy was measured by VAT earnings, then Imo State’s GDP could not have been the fourth highest out of the 36 states of the federation.
“Apart from displaying its crass ignorance in the economic dynamics of Value Added Tax, which is a consumptive, federal tax not based on production, PDP flew off the handle to whip up sentiments based on absolute falsehood “, the Commissioner averred.
According to Emelumba, the low rate of VAT Collection in the state is as a result of factors independent of the economic and infrastructural policies of the state.
He noted that while the government has no control over businesses and their operational capability, including how much they remit as VAT, it has created the enabling environment to attract them to the state, adding that that was why the state economy was growing faster than that of many states.
“We have an automated civil service which has received the applause of the World Bank because it has perfected the ease of doing business. The State recently won the World Bank’s trophy under the States Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) and was rewarded with Four Million United States Dollars, “he submitted.
Emelumba also disclosed that contrary to the jaundiced infrastructure assessment by PDP, Gov. Hope Uzodimma has constructed and reconstructed more than 120 solid roads across the state.
According to him, “except they are blind, the PDP and their sponsors have been using these solid roads. These are verifiable achievements that everyone can see and testify to. I don’t understand why they should lie. “
The Commissioner disclosed that even those just passing through Imo to other parts of the country have confirmed that the road infrastructure remains the best by any administration in the last 15 years.
On the payment of minimum wage to workers, which PDP claimed was stagnated at N30, 000 and responsible for slow pace of the economy, the Commissioner dismissed as a lie from hell.
“As soon as the fuel subsidy was removed by the federal government, His Excellency approved a wage increase to N40,000 for workers even when no state had done so. The workers had been receiving that amount until last month when His Excellency also approved the implementation of the national minimum wage of N70, 000.”
Emelumba said PDP should hide their faces in shame because the gratuities and regular pensions they could not pay to workers for 13 years are now being paid by Uzodimma.
Said he, “in terms of boosting the economy of the state, Uzodimma is giving it his best shot, which I must say is yielding results. Currently, he is dredging the Orashi River to Atlantic Ocean to stimulate economic activities not only in Imo state but the entire South East. In the next couple of weeks, there will be an uninterrupted power supply in the entire state. All these are geared towards attracting investments to the state”
