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…As ex-Gov Babangida Aliyu, Sen. Shehu Sani, Sheikh Gumi, Rev. Hayab back reform
• Northern groups condemn Tinubu’s tax reform bills
From Omoniyi Salaudeen (Lagos), Noah Ebije (Kaduna), Molly Kilete (Abuja) and Shafa’atu Suleiman (Sokoto)
As Nigeria charts a new direction for the nation’s economic renaissance for the progress and prosperity of the people through the proposed tax reform, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris said that a reform of the nation’s tax administration system is long overdue.
This is as the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Sokoto State Chapter, has condemned the proposed Tax Reform Bills introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The Tax Reform Bills, namely the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024, and the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024, have sparked widespread condemnation and debate their were presented on the floor of the National Assembly.
Hon Idris stated this in his remarks when he presided as chairman at the 2024 Annual Public Lecture/AGM and Awards held by the Kaduna State chapter, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), yesterday.
The Minister who spoke on the theme, “Tax Reform: The Role of Public Relations in Fostering Constructive Dialogue for National Economic Renaissance,” noted that the ongoing review of the country’s tax laws is timely and crucial, especially as part of a larger set of macroeconomic reforms.
He commended the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reform for an excellent job, in terms of public engagement.
His words: “All over the world, effective taxation is important as a source of financial power for governments to provide social services for their citizens. However, there is plenty of reason to believe and assert that Nigeria’s tax administration system has become long overdue for reform, on account of design and implementation flaws as well as the general attitudes of taxpayers toward taxation. “In light of this, the ongoing review of the country’s tax laws and realities is timely and crucial, especially as part of a larger set of macroeconomic reforms aimed at setting the country on an irreversible path of growth and development.
The full details of the new tax bills are available in the public domain – one must commend the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reform for an excellent job in this regard, in terms of public engagement – so I will not attempt to go over these details again here.
“What I will say is that it is very inspiring and heart warming to see Nigerians from all walks of life coming out to express their views and opinions on these matters of critical national importance, as such is the very essence and meaning of democracy. In spite of the challenge of trust deficit that tends to crop up around matters of governance in Nigeria, we have still been able to have what can be adjudged as robust debate on this sensitive issue.
“President Tinubu has also been very clear that the Executive will listen to and work with all stakeholders to ensure that all concerns are duly and comprehensively addressed. We will continue to ensure open lines of communication and engagement with the National Assembly and all other stakeholders on these taxation bills. We are all in this together, as one people, one nation, and just as we are being called upon to make collective sacrifices, we will also collectively reap the abundant social and economic benefits of all of these necessary reforms.”
In their various contributions, Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, the revered Islamic scholar, Sheilk Abubakar Gumi and former Kaduna State chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab, backed the tax reform bills and urged their Northern kinsmen to take advantage of the reform to ensure that collapsed industries are revamped, go into full time commercial agricultural production to attract benefits of taxation under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Earlier, the President of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku, pleaded for the institute’s support towards implementation of the tax reform in the country by using the vocal voices of the institute across the country.
On his part, former chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Babaginda Aliyu, condemned those opposing the Tax Reform Bills of the federal government, saying they had not taken time to study the bill.
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The former governor who made this known at the graduation ceremony for the Executive Intelligence Management Course 17 at the National Institute for Security Studies in Abuja, equally criticized the government over poor communication about the policy to the populace.
He said Nigerians needed to understand that no policy benefits everyone equally.
His words: “I was speaking to the NSA when we were in the common room, and I said to him, ‘Look, many of the people debating the tax bill have not read it. But again, there is the problem of communication, the government should speak; moreso, when the majority of the people are not literate. You should be the first to speak on any major policy, particularly a policy that will bring changes so that the people can understand.
“People can know that there is no policy that will come to somebody, if the majority comes and one person is disturbed, you can only tell him. But you cannot say because of one person, the policy cannot be taken. So communication is very, very important.”
Similarly, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives candidate for the Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency in the 2019 general election, Prof. Siji Olamiju, cautioned the National Assembly not to play politics with the new tax reform bill presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing it as a crucial part of restructuring.
In a statement issued in Osogbo, Osun State, through his New Spring MediaHouse, Prof. Olamiju commended the tax reforms introduced by President Tinubu, describing it as a crucial part of the restructuring being clamoured for by Nigerians.
He advised Senator Ndume to study the policy behind the tax reforms before jumping into air to criticise the reform bill. Prof. Olamiju said the new tax policy will motivate state governors and local government chairmen to work harder to generate revenue and develop their states and localities, thereby ultimately blocking revenue leakages.
Prof. Olamiju stated: “This is a time when Nigerians have elected a President who genuinely cares for the people. I urge the National Assembly to disregard the noise of those who have nothing to offer and instead support this excellent Bill.”
With President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria will reach its promised land in good time.
Meanwhile, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Sokoto State Chapter, described the bills as a threat to the already dire socioeconomic conditions in Sokoto and the entire Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at a press conference in Sokoto, the state coordinator of the CNG, Comrade Faisal Salisu, expressed deep concern over the proposed reforms, which they believe will disproportionately and negatively affect Northern Nigeria.
The group cited the new VAT derivation formula and the consolidation of multiple levies into a single “development levy” as examples of the reforms’ potential harm.
The CNG said that the proposed VAT sharing formula will benefit only Lagos and Rivers states, leaving Sokoto State and the entire North, along with the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones, with limited resources.
According to them, the proposed bill will make it difficult for many states to meet basic obligations such as paying workers’ salaries or funding critical services.
The CNG also expressed concern over the defunding of pivotal institutions such as TETFUND, NITDA, and NASENI, which they believe will stifle advancements in education, technology, and industrial sectors crucial for the North’s development.
