Notwithstanding mounting opposition from different quarters, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Seriake Dickson, has declared that the National Assembly would pass the tax reforms bills.

Dickson, who represents Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, stated this yesterday during an interview with journalists in Abuja.

The former Governor of Bayelsa State declared that if the National Assembly could pass the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), nothing would stop the nation’s legislature from doing the same thing with the tax bills.

He also allayed fears in some quarters that the planned public hearing on the matter could be chaotic if the event was not postponed for further consultations.

The politicians urged anyone or group of people who were opposed to the bill to attend the public hearing with facts if they had issues with any sections of the proposed fiscal legislations.

Dickson said: “The Senate has passed the bills for second reading. Public hearings will take place and people should get ready to present their positions.

“The tax bill is a law like every other law and it has to go through the normal legislative process. Right now, taxes from Bayelsa State are paid to Lagos State and I don’t want that to continue.

“When there is consumption of any goods or services from any state it should be calculated and paid to that state. Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws, to correct the anomalies and that’s why I’m in support.”

Asked whether there won’t be uproar during the public hearing if wider consultations were not carried out, Dickson said there would be nothing like that.