The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service has said claims by the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, that SABMiller Breweries is the highest taxpayer in the state is not true. The government made the statement on Thursday through the Chairman, AIRS, Dr Greg Ezeilo. Ezeilo said a check on the last two years data by the agency showed that SABMiller company came a distant sixth position behind Fidelity Bank Plc. Ezeilo was reacting to the statement credited to Obi, where he said SABMiller, built by his administration when he was the state governor, is the highest tax payer in the state. The former Anambra State governor stated this last Friday while addressing a gathering of Labour Party stalwarts and supporters at the All Saints Cathedral field, Onitsha, Anambra State, during the campaign flag-off of Labour Party candidate for the November 8, 2025 governorship election in the state, Dr George Moghalu, and his running mate,. “You can assess yourselves, governance for me is about compassion and empathy, caring for the lowly, petty traders. It is not these same poor masses you tax. Instead of ensuring they feed well and go to school. “I have governed Anambra State and I don’t boast of things I didn’t do, they are verifiable. “You might have heard that the only thing they said I did was to build brewery, but the same brewery gave employment to thousands of people. The brewery I built is the highest tax payer in the state and boosts the Internally Generated Revenue. “You can compare that with the Fun City you have today, which one is more profitable? We chose a female deputy governor because we want to care for families, she is not only popular, but organised,” Obi stated. But while dismissing Obi’s claims, Ezeilo, said contrary to his claims, SABMiller contributed on the average, N28 million per month in 2023 and N26.62 million per month in 2024, thereby becoming the sixth ranked tax paying company in the state. Ezeilo said the clarifications became necessary to properly situate the claims made by the former governor and to give undiluted information for the members of the public to note. The statement read in part, “The attention of the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service has been drawn to some public domain of claims regarding the fact that SABMiller Breweries is the highest taxpayer in the state. “For the avoidance of doubts, while the Service has made very monumental strides in increasing the internally generally revenue of the State from its very low ebb of between N1.5bn to N2.0bn per month, and even much lower in the previous years; the tax collection has consistently moved up to N4bn per month and with an all-time high of N10.5bn in the month of May, 2025. “A double-check on the last two years data on tax collections across corporate bodies, including SABMiller, but excluding Federal Institutions which contribute hugely to the state’s IGR, especially the pay as you earn taxes, showed the position of top six taxpayers in the state. “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 dissmissd with a wave of hand as the company in question contributed on the average, N28million per month in 2023 and N26.62million per month in 2024. “The above clarifications became necessary 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. Please accept the esteemed assurances of the Service.”
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