President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly to work on concerns raised over the tax bills.
Criticisms have greeted Tinubu’s transmission of the Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly. The move has pitted the president against some governors with the most vocal criticism coming from the northern region.
Some critics believe the bills are against the northern region while others argue that they would further impoverish Nigerians.
But to address these concerns, President Tinubu has mandated the Justice Ministry to look into the concerns raised and work with the leadership of the National Assembly to finetune the rough edges in the bills.
“It is pertinent to state that the government has nothing sinister to warrant the suggestion that the process is being rushed. In line with the established legislative procedure, the Federal General welcomes meaningful inputs that can address whatever grey areas there may be in the bill,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris said in a Tuesday statement.
“In this vein, President Tinubu has already directed the Federal Ministry of Justice and relevant officials who worked on the drafts to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure that all genuine concerns have been addressed before the bills are passed.”
‘Spirit of Democratic Engagement’
Mohammed said President Tinubu is committed to accountability to the Nigerian people and described the debates generated by the bills as “welcomed, and commendable”.
“It is very inspiring to see Nigerians from all walks of life coming out to express their views and opinions on these matters of critical national importance,” he said. “This is the very essence and meaning of democracy”.
“In the spirit of democratic engagement, there should be no room for name-calling or the injection of unnecessary ethnic and regional slurs into this important national conversation,” the minister said.
Although some of the arguments against the bills are that they were targeted at impoverishing some states, especially in the north, the minister has dismissed the claim which he labeled as “fake news” and “ misinformation”.
“The fiscal reforms will not impoverish any state or region of the country, neither will they lead to the scrapping or weakening of any federal agencies,” he added.
When passed, the minister said, these bills are expected to “bring relief to tens of millions of hardworking Nigerians” and equally “empower and position our states and the 774 local governments for sustainable growth and development”.
“On top of this necessary foundation, the resources being conserved and realized from these reforms will be invested in critical infrastructure (healthcare, education, transportation, digital technology, etc) and in social investments that will benefit all Nigerians and ensure that no one is left behind,” the information minister’s statement read.
Experts Call For Restraint, Patriotism
Following the heated debates generated since the introduction of the tax bills, Channels Television on Monday held a town hall event to weigh the pros and cons.
The event featured a galaxy of experts drawn from several sectors. Those who attended the meeting included the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee Taiwo Oyedele, and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara; the Group CEO of Global Investment and Trade Company, Baba Yusuf; Public Affairs Analyst/ Writer, Micheal Chibuzor and a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
Governor Sule Abdullahi of Nasarawa also called into the show.
At the town hall, the panelists called for restraint and asked that the grey areas spotted in the bills be addressed.
Oyedele who midwifed the bills said they have some “transformative provisions,” dispelling fears among Nigerians.
“These Bills have more than 200 transformative provisions to fix our country and set us on the right path to prosperity,” Oyedele said.
“We should not allow one or two provisions that we can easily discuss and agree on to become the pain or the bottleneck.”
Dogara also asked that the northern region not condemn Tinubu over the bills, arguing that they are not anti-north.
“I want to talk to my brothers in the North. I don’t think this is the time for us to begin to condemn the president and to begin to say that on account of these bills, he is anti-north,” the former speaker said.
The Tax Reform Bills have already passed the second reading in the Senate despite calls for them to be withdrawn.
