The Rivers State government has dragged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the Supreme Court over the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT).

In a suit filed by its Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State asked the Supreme Court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s order which directed the state to maintain status quo on the collection of VAT pending the determination of an appeal filed by the FIRS.

The Federal High Court, Port Harcourt issued an order restraining the FIRS from collecting VAT and Personal Income Tax (PIT) in Rivers state.

The agency later filed a stay of execution which was dismissed by the court.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, FIRS approached the Court of Appeal to take a second look at the matter.

A three-member panel of the appellate court in a ruling on Friday ordered all the parties in the suit to maintain the status quo on the matter.

The panel refrained the parties from taking any action on the lower court’s ruling which gave Rivers State government the right to collect VAT instead of the FIRS.

In its 10 grounds of appeal, the Rivers state government maintained that Justice Haruna Tsammani-led panel of the Appeal Court erred in law when it relied on the provisions of Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution and the inherent jurisdiction of the appellate court to order all the parties to maintain status quo on the dispute.