The Senate, yesterday, resolved to suspend its proposed public hearing on the controversial Tax Reform Bills till further notice, with a view to embarking on wider consultations with various stakeholders.
It’s pertinent to note that the apex legislative chamber had mandated its Committee on Finance six weeks to organise a public hearing on the bills and return for further legislative consideration before final passage.
However, following the massive opposition against the proposed Tax Reform Bills, majorly by northern political elements and opinion moulders, the Senate, decided to put further legislative actions on the bills on hold, to allow for more consultations on.
Declaring the position of the Senate on the bills during plenary, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, directed the Finance Committee to put on hold further actions on the proposed public hearing on the Tax Reform Bills until the leadership resolved all contentious issues about the proposals.
He said: “This was in consonance with the fact that we understand at all times that this Senate is the highest assembly in this country.
The Senate comprises men and women of wisdom, of pedigree that this country has entrusted to legislate for them for the peace and tranquility and the development of this country.
“The Senate of the Federal Republic is known by everyone stabilisers of the country. When there are difficulties and disagreements, the Senate of this country comes in with solutions through dialogue and consensus at all times to solve such problems.
The Senate has been doing that since 1999. “Because of this we decided to put politics, ethnicity, and regionalism aside to sit among ourselves and find the way forward with respect to the issues surrounding the tax reform bills.
“It is on this note that we extended our view to the executive arm of government and it was agreed that there should be a forum to sit down to look at the areas that are creating disagreements to resolve them so that the entire country will remain united – united in our effort to solve our problems.
“Before the introduction of these bills, we know we’ve been faced with several problems and insecurity that we’ve been trying to solve.
The President has been trying, and we’re also working with him to solve issues about our economy, which is in line with global economic problems. “We also agree that we shouldn’t allow anything else to aggravate our country’s problems.”
The deputy Senate president added that it is on this note that the Senate and the executive has agreed that there should be a forum to sit with the attorney-general of the federation and sort out the problems in the interest of this nation, noting:
“It is, therefore, proposed that there will be a meeting with the committee that we’ve set up here and the leadership to sit with the Attorney General of the Federation (today) to look at those issues and resolve them.
“It’s on this note that the Committee on Finance that the bills have been referred to should put on hold further action on it – public hearing – and other issues until we resolve these issues.”
