SABMiller Brewery: Soludo’s Attack On Peter Obi Backfires

The Anambra State Government, headed by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has refuted a long-standing claim by the former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that SABMiller Brewery is the state’s highest taxpayer and revenue source.

The state government, through the Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), on Thursday, released a document showing its highest taxpayers to establish its stance.

According to the document, SABMiller Brewery fell behind five Nigerian banks as the sixth top taxpayers in the state with a total of N656,558,123, both in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Withholding Taxes (WHT).

The top taxpayers were identified as First Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank of Nigeria and Access Bank, “excluding Federal Institutions”, which the state government said, “contribute hugely to the state’s IGR (Internally Generated Revenue).”

The statement read in part, ”A double-check on the last two years’ data (see table below) 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 (PAYE) taxes, showed the position of the top 6 taxpayers in the State.

“Interestingly, SABMiller company comes in a distant sixth position behind Fidelity Bank Plc with a gross tax payment of N656.5M in two years (2023 and 2024).

“In this sense, the claim can be dismissed with a wave of the hand, as the company in question contributed, on average, N28M per month in 2023 and N26.62M 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.”

The state government noted that while the AIRS has made strides in increasing the revenue of the State from its “very low ebb of between N1.5bn and N2bn 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 10.5bn in May, 2025.”

Obi had previously claimed that Intafact Beverages Limited brewery in Onitsha, commonly known as the SABMiller Brewery, remains the state’s single largest source of revenue and a major contributor to local employment.

“If I tell you what I suffered for that brewery to be built in Anambra State, you will not believe it.

“I had to go out trying to attract business to Anambra State. The biggest revenue earner in Anambra State is our brewery,” Obi told Arise TV in an interview.

In a recent interview with Channels Television on July 7, Obi buttressed his preference for investment-led loans over consumption loans, stating his vision to gradually transform Nigeria into an investment hub for foreign organisations.

Commissioned on August 30, 2012, the Onitsha-based Intafact Beverages Limited started as a greenfield investment by SABMiller, now part of AB InBev, and was later integrated into International Breweries Plc in December 2017.

It was initially funded with over $100m, and an additional $110m was invested in 2014 to triple its production capacity to 2.1 million hectolitres annually.

Under Obi’s administration, the Anambra government invested approximately N2b (about $12.6m) for a 10 per cent equity stake in the project, an investment he defended as strategic and socially impactful.

NIGERIANS REACT:

Meanwhile, the statement by the Anambra Government has generated backlash from some Nigerians.

The reactions were garnered from the Facebook session of Anambra First, a page dedicated to disseminating information and activities of the state government.

According to Tochi Henry, a Facebook user, the document didn’t contradict Obi’s claim but rather justified it.

He said, “You ended up affirming his position. Aside from Banks, SabMiller is the highest. And he (Peter Obi) was also right to say ‘one of the highest’ taxpayers.”

Another Facebook user, Paschal Onwuneme, said, “With this information, you have proven that Mr Peter Obi was right in his statement.

“Banks are not government-attracted investments. We will keep this information for future reference before you tell us that investment in SABMILLER is next to nothing.”

Another Facebook user, Kelechukwu Favour, asked, “So Soludo’s government has no investment that pays [tax]? Or they’re the ones who attracted those banks to Anambra?”

Chidi Nwafor added that “Obi is right after all; emphasis should be on institutions attracted by the state. We remain curious to know the economic impacts of firms brought in by the current government, if any.”

Also, Eze Ugo noted the government “shot themselves in the legs”. He said, “Soludo once told us that the investment was next to nothing; now it has been proven that they pay taxes above 20m per month.

“How many governors made such investments? Besides, most of those ahead of SABMiller are just Banks which aren’t in the class PO mentioned.”

Meanwhile, Peace Mirable, a Facebook user, advised political players to fact-check their claims before making them public. She said, “Leaders should ensure their statements are accurate, especially when it concerns state revenue.”