Anambra govt counters Peter Obi on brewery's tax ranking claim

The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) has countered claims made by the Labour Party 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi that SABMiller Breweries is the highest taxpayer in the state.

Join the Premium Times WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.

Open in WhatsApp

The claim

During an interview on Arise TV in June, Mr Obi claimed that Intafact Beverages Limited, otherwise known as SABMiller Brewery, is “the biggest revenue earner” in Anambra State and the largest contributor to the state’s internally generated revenue.

“The biggest revenue earner in Anambra State is our brewery.

“That brewery is employing at least- directly – 500 Anambra people. That brewery is at least giving food to over 5,000 Anambrians – those who use that business, distributors, truck drivers, everything,” Mr Obi, who governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, claimed.

Stay Ahead with Premium Times

Add as a preferred source on Google

The brewery, commissioned on 30 August 2012, started as a greenfield investment by SABMiller, now part of AB InBev, but was integrated into International Breweries Plc in December 2017.

Under Mr Obi’s administration, Anambra State facilitated the establishment of the brewery through a N2 billion investment for a 10 per cent equity stake for the state government.

‘It’s not true’

But reacting in a statement on Thursday, the Chairperson of the AIRS, Greg Ezeilo, countered Mr Obi’s claims on the brewery’s tax ranking in the state.

Mr Ezeilo said a check on the agency’s data for the last two years showed that the brewery came in a distant sixth position behind Fidelity Bank Plc in the state’s tax ranking.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi responds to allegations of working for Abacha, publishes evidence

“Interestingly, SABMiller company comes a distant sixth position behind Fidelity Bank Plc with a gross tax payment of N656.5 million in two years (2023 and 2024).

“In this sense, the claim can be dismissed with a wave of hand as the company in question contributed on the average, N28 million per month in 2023 and N26.62million per month in 2024,” he said.

The AIRS chairperson said the agency decided to make the clarification “to properly situate the claims” made by the former governor and to give “undiluted information for the members of the public to note.”

“Additionally, there’s the need to provide answers to certain public inquiries either to prove or disprove the claims as published in the media,” he stated.