The governor explained that the Tax Reform Bills are being appreciated and welcomed by the governors but they only wanted to get clarifications in some areas.
Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has explained why governors of the 36 states are requesting for delay in the implementation of the Tax Reform Bills.
The governor explained that the Tax Reform Bills are being appreciated and welcomed by the governors but they only wanted to get clarifications in some areas.
He mentioned this while speaking during Channels TV Townhall on the Tax Reform Bills on Monday; the governor hailed the bills but stated that there were questions that needed answers.
“The issue of increasing the VAT from 20 per cent to 60 per cent at the point of generation, and I am happy that Taiwo said it has now changed not just at the point of generation but also consumption, that is fine.
“Those were some of the issues mentioned by the governors. The governors said, you know what, why don’t you withdraw the bills, let us discuss it, let us understand it,” Governor Sule was quoted by Channels TV.
He said that the townhall meeting which was organised by Channels TV is part of events that should have happened before the bills were sent to the National Assembly.
According to him, if some of these steps were taken by Taiwo Oyedele’s Tax Reform Committee and things were properly explained, there won’t have been any call to withdraw the bills, which is the point the governors were making.
Responding, Oyedele thanked Governor Sule and the Governor’s Forum for their feedback which he said he takes seriously, explaining that calling for series of meetings with the governors would have delayed the bills.
The tax reform committee chair noted that the Committee tried to engage Nigerians on the bills, but people did not show much interest.
He, however, said that the Committee was ready to repeat some of the processes and explain things further now that it seems like people have become interested in the bills.
The proposed Tax Reform Bills have generated a lot of controversies since its introduction at the National Assembly. It has been met with serious resistance especially from the Northern part of the country.
Recall that Prof Babagana Zulum, Borno State Governor, had also stated that President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills would favour only Lagos and Rivers states.
Speaking on Channels TV programme on Sunday, he had said the position was based on research and calculations by northern governors.
The governor has been critical of the tax reform bills, saying the northern states are at a disadvantage and Tinubu should suspend the bills.
“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law. Based on the calculations that we did, only Lagos and Rivers States will benefit from this scheme.
“We did our own research and concluded that we would lose,” Zulum stated.
He added, “Why are we in a rush? We advised the Federal Government to take a pause and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to Northern Nigeria.
“What we are saying is that give more time, let us do a deeper consultation to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law.”
Zulum explained that if the bill scales through the National Assembly, most states would be shortchanged, leaving Lagos as the primary beneficiary.
