SABMiller Breweries not highest tax payer – Anambra Govt debunks Obi’s claims

Anambra State Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, has refuted the claims of former governor Peter Obi that one of his companies, SABMiller Breweries, is the highest taxpayer in the state.

The agency made the clarification in a post on its official X handle on Thursday.

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

AIRS stressed that Obi’s claim should be dismissed with a wave of hand as SABMiller contributed on the average, N28 million per month in 2023 and N26.62 million per month in 2024.

The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service said the clarification became necessary to properly situate the claims and to give undiluted information for members of the public to take note.

It added that there’s the need to provide answers to certain public inquiries either to prove or disprove the claims as published in the media.

“The attention of the 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 N1.5 billion to N2.0 billion per month, and even much lower in the previous years; the tax collection has consistently moved up to N4 billion per month and with an all-time high of N10.5 billion in the month of May, 2025.

“Interestingly, SABMiller 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 N26.62 million per month in 2024,” the agency said.

SABMiller Breweries not highest tax payer – Anambra Govt debunks Obi’s claims