Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Nigeria has dropped another missile in his quest to ensure equity and fair play in the Nigeria polity.
He chastised governors of the North who championed stricked Islamic religious observance through none consumption of alcohol but benefit from what they preach against to stop being hypocritical.
In 2000, a good number of the sharia governors kicked against sale of alcohol in their domain.
Some even went as far as closing public inn for daring to sell alcohol and other drinks they considered illicit to drive home “morality”.
While these governor on one hand condemned consumption and sales of alcohol, they on the other hand, receive proceeds from what they have condemned through the distribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) by the federal government.
Few weeks ago, a Federal HighCourt ruled in favour of Rivers State to keep the proceeds of VAT within it’s domain which the federal government and some states of thee North frowned at. To this end, the government at the centre, said it has gone to court to challenge the ruling, demanding return to status quo until the determination by the Court of Appeal.
Nevertheless, another court of competent jurisdiction, have rejected the federal government’s position on return to status quo.
To further drive home his message, Governor Wike, yesterday, told state governors of the north to face reality and eschew hypocrisy.
In a state-wide broadcast while making referring to VAT from of alcohol, he declared: “You can’t destroy beer in your state in the name of Sharia yet share from VAT on beer from other states. It is hypocrisy.”
According to him, “Free money has promoted laziness. If you want to be a governor grow your state’s economy.
“You can’t contribute humongous numbers during elections that can’t translate to tax earnings for your state
“If they can vote they should be able to work and pay tax.”