The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) has tackled the 2027 presidential aspirant, Peter Obi, over a recent that SABMiller Breweries is the highest taxpayer in the state.
Presenting a fact sheet on state tax collection on Thursday, July 17, 2025, the agency dismissed Obi’s claims, stressing that the brewery is the sixth-ranked tax-paying company in the state for 2024.
The statement issued by AIRS Chairman, Dr Greg Ezeilo, cited the agency’s data from the last two years, which showed that the SABMiller company came in a distant sixth position behind Fidelity Bank Plc.
Ezeilo’s reaction followed a recent statement credited to the former Anambra State Governor, who claimed that SABMiller, built by his administration, is the highest taxpayer in the state.
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The Labour Party chieftain reportedly made the claim while addressing a gathering of party stalwarts and supporters at the All Saints Cathedral field in Onitsha last Friday.
The event marked the campaign flag-off of Labour Party candidate Dr. George Moghalu, running for the November 8, 2025, governorship election in the state, 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 a brewery, but the same brewery gave employment to thousands of people. The brewery I built is the highest taxpayer 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 claimed.
Anambra govt debunks Obi’s claims
However, Ezeilo, while countering the submission, disclosed that SABMiller contributed, on average, N28 million per month in 2023 and N26.62 million per month in 2024, making it the sixth tax-paying company in Anambra.
According to the AIRS boss, the need to set the record straight became necessary to situate Obi’s claims properly and to provide unadulterated information for the public to consider.
“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.
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“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,” the statement partly read.
FACT-CHECKING:
ANAMBRA STATE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (AiRS) DEBUNKS PETER OBI’S FALSE CLAIMS ON SABMILER BEING THE HIGHEST TAX PAYER IN ANAMBRA pic.twitter.com/vqXPvLlduN
— Anambra State New Media (@AnambraNewMedia) July 17, 2025
