The National Assembly is set to pass President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills despite widespread opposition from various quarters, including governors, traditional rulers and civil society organisations.
President Tinubu had, on 3 October 2024, transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly in a letter read by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and House of Representatives Speaker, Tajuddeen Abbas during separate plenary sessions.
Tinubu stated that the bills aim to bolster Nigeria’s fiscal institutions and align with the government’s development objectives.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West), reaffirmed the legislature’s resolve to pass the bills, saying “heaven won’t fall.”
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, he said, “The PIA was passed. We wanted 10% which was what Yar’adua (former president) proposed.
“They (federal lawmakers) reduced it to 3%. Heaven did not fall. This tax reform bills will pass and heavens will not fall.”
Last week, the Senate passed the bills for a second reading, while the House of Representatives has yet to deliberate.
Dickson called on critics of the bills to attend the public hearing with evidence, adding, “The Senate has passed the bills for second reading. Public hearing will take place, and people should get ready to present their positions. The tax bill is a proposed law like every other and it has to go through the normal legislative process.”
Addressing tax disparities, Dickson said, “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.”
He further explained his support for the reform, stating, “Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws, to correct the anomalies, and that is why I’m in support.
I know there are states that are feeling that when they apply the new sharing formula, they will earn less.
“It’s for them to raise those issues and bring the statistics. I don’t go by sentiments. I go by what is right and in the national interest.”
Meanwhile, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and founder of the Kukah Centre, Most Reverend Mathew Kukah, shared his views regarding the controversial tax reform bills of Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The fiery cleric said the bills were what the country needed to catapult it into economic prosperity.
The bill, which has passed the second reading at the Senate, is facing vehement pushback from different quarters, especially from elites in Northern Nigeria.
Notable northern groups and figures like The Northern Governors Forum, the Northern Elders Forum, the National Economic Council, and Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, among others, have publicly voiced their opposition to the bill and demanded its withdraw.