President Bola Tinubu has said there is no going back on the tax reforms bills. Tinubu, who stated this during a media chat in Lagos on Monday, said the tax reforms were necessitated by the need to eliminate colonial-based assumptions in the nation’s tax environment.
The Presidential Media Chat, Tinubu’s first, was aired on the Nigerian Television Authority Monday night.
The tax reforms have sparked controversy across the country, forcing the House of Representatives to suspend indefinitely the debate on the bills earlier fixed for December 3 following mounting pressure from the 19 northern states governors.
The planned debate was called off after 73 northern lawmakers kicked against the bills.
However, while the reforms have garnered support in the South as steps toward equitable resource distribution, stakeholders say resistance from the North reflects fears of marginalisation and economic disadvantage.
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, was quoted in an interview with BBC as saying, “Why the rush? The Petroleum Industry Bill took almost 20 years before it was finally passed. But this tax reform bill is being transmitted and receiving legislative attention within a week. It should be treated carefully and with caution so that even after our exit, our children will reap its benefits.
“We condemn these bills sent to the National Assembly. They will drag the North backwards and also affect the South East, South West, and some South-Western states like Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo.”
The PUNCH reported that on September 3, 2024 President Bola Tinubu transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration following the recommendations of the Taiwo Oyedele-led Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms.
The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which aims to provide the fiscal framework for taxation in the country, and the Tax Administration Bill, which will provide a clear and concise legal framework for all taxes in the country and reduce disputes.
Others are the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, expected to repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and establish the Nigeria Revenue Service as well as the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, which will create a tax tribunal and a tax ombudsman.
On October 29, 2024, the Northern Governors Forum, the umbrella body comprising the 19 governors of the region, kicked against the bill, particularly the Value Added Tax-sharing template.
At a gathering in Kaduna, the governors directed federal lawmakers from their respective states to vote against the bills when they came up for debate in both chambers of the National Assembly.
Two days later, the National Economic Council presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima advised the Federal Government to withdraw the bills to create room for broader consultations among critical stakeholders, a counsel turned down by the President in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.
