2nd December 2024, NewsOrient, News, Governance And Development, Law And Society, Business And Economy

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has explained why governors of Northern states asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to pause the passage into law of his Tax Reform Bills.

According to the Borno State Governor: “We advised the Federal Government to take a pause and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to Northern Nigeria.”

Channels Television reported that “the four tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu are stoking anger in Northern Nigeria, with groups in the region demanding the suspension of passage of the legislation.”

Confirming this report on Sunday, Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said:

“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law, based on the calculations that we did, only Lagos and Rivers States will benefit from this scheme.

“We did our own research and concluded that we would lose.”

Gov Zulum added: “Why are we in a rush? We advised the Federal Government to take a pause and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to Northern Nigeria.

“What we are saying is that give more time, let us do a deeper consultation to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law,” he said.

NewsOrient recalls that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had in October 2024 asked the National Assembly to pass the Tax Reform Bills into law.

The bills are the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024 -SB.583; The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) BILL, 2024- SB.584; The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, 2024-SB.585; and the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024 – SB.586.

Although the said bills passed second reading in the Senate on November 28 2024, the controversy trailing them has continued to deepen.

~ NewsOrient

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