The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) has debunked the claim by the Former Governor of the State and Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the last presidential election, Peter Obi, that SABMiller Breweries is the highest taxpayer in the state. This is contrary to the actual ranking, which places the company sixth on the AIRS list.
Dr. Greg Ezeilo, Charman of AIRS, affirmed that while the state has made monumental strides in increasing the internally generated revenue from its low ebb of between N1.5 billion and N2 Billion per month, and even much lower in previous years, the tax collection has moved up to N4 billion per month, with an all-time high of N10.5 billion in May 2025 under Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
He said SABMiller comes in a distant sixth position, with First Bank at the top of the list, followed by Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, and Fidelity in fifth position.
The AIRS boss pointed out that SABMiller made a gross payment of N656.5million from 2023 to 2024.
According to Dr. Ezeilo, the statement made by Peter Obi in one of his campaigns about SABMiller as the highest taxpayer is false, and has been refuted by AIRS, with accurate facts on the state’s tax records.
“In this sense, the claims can be dismissed with a wave of the hand as the company contributed on average, N28 million per month in 2023 and N26.62 million in 2024,’ he stated.
Furthermore, the AIRS Chairman remarked that the clarification is necessary to properly situate the former governor’s claims and to give undiluted information for the people of the state to note.
It has become worrisome that Peter Obi has been making assertions based on wrong data in his political campaigns for his candidate. It is clear that if he is not using Malaysian data, he will use Indonesian references, which are not supported by facts.
Against this backdrop, Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s administration is transforming Anambra into a destination and the Dubai-Silicon Valley of the country, where economic and business activities thrive. This will further enhance the state’s economy and have a productive effect on its internally generated revenue.
