…Tinubu urges Senate to produce workable law from proposal

Stakeholders across the country, on Monday, expressed their unflinching support towards the passage of the contentious tax reform bills earlier forwarded to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.

The stakeholders expressed their positions at a two-day public hearing, organised by the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa, who represents Niger East Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This was as the Arewa Think Tank, led by the convener, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, debunked insinuation that people from Northern Nigeria were against the proposed laws.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has urged the apex legislative Chamber to give him workable laws from the bills, to facilitate the realization of the envisaged economic transformation via the bills.

President Tinubu’s request for workable laws from the bills which are (i) The Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, (ii) Nigerian Tax Administration Bill 2024, is ( iii) Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill 2024 and (iv) Joint Revenue Board Bill 2024, was disclosed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance in his remarks at the public hearing.

“I met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ( GCFR) two days ago on the tax reform bills and he told me that Mr Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, go and do the needful. Give me a law that is workable from the tax reform bills I forwarded to the Senate and the House of Representatives in October last year.

“That request by Mr President came at a very auspicious time of this public hearing on the tax reform bills which are not meant to add burden to any section of the country or give undue advantage to any section as well”, he said.

It would be recalled that the bills faced strident oppositions from various groups last year, which made it difficult for the House of Representatives to pass it for a second reading last year while the Senate managed to do sane on the 28th of November.

However, at the public hearing declared opened by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, all oppositions against the bills melted out as stakeholders one after another, expressed their support for the proposed laws.

First to make a submission, was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, who said that the proposed laws were not aimed at taxing poverty but prosperity.

“The tax reform bills, as repeatedly explained at different fora since their introduction last year, are for modernization of our archaic tax laws towards effecting efficiency, equity and economic growth”, he said.

Making a similar submission, the Group Chief Executive Officer ( GCEO ) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari , said the entire oil and gas industry is well disposed to the reform.

“The proposed tax reform bills to us in NNPCL, are very necessary enhancement of growth of the economy through more efficient and effective tax collection mechanism. As the largest taxpayer in Nigeria, NNPCL has studied the reform bills, and found the proposals to be reasonable and necessary”, he said.

In a related view, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission ( RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu made a U-turn from an earlier stance on the bills, by supporting them 100%.

He said: “RMAFC is in support of the proposed tax reform but wants adjustments in the area of Value Added Tax (VAT) distribution to subnationals. We hope that the proposed reform will address the issue of endless revenue remittance reconciliation with NNPCL.

The Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako also supported the proposed reform bills by declaring that they are intadem with the spirit and letters of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

In their separate presentations, the convener of Arewa Think Thank, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu and the representative of the President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Professor Mohammed Bello Dogarawa, debunked the insinuation that the North was against the reform bills.

Specifically, the Convener of Arewa Think Tank said: “It is not true that the North is against the tax reform bills. We have seen the benefits and sensitized our people in the North on them”.

Earlier in his remarks before declaring the public hearing open, the President of the Senate said: “The challenge before us transcends the simple act of passing new laws; it is about constructing a tax system that inspires confidence, promotes development, and fuels national growth.

“We cannot afford to be fragmented in our approach to revenue generation. Instead, we must come together—Federal, State, and Local Governments, alongside the private sector and civil society—to create a tax system that truly works for all”.

Other Critical stakeholders like the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso,the Comptroller- Generals of Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Immigration Service, will remark at the session on Tuesday.