…Tax Reform Bills: Nigerians Should Remove Cap Of Regionalism, Religion, Says Dogara
A former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has called on Nigerians to be fair in their assessment of the Tax Reforms Bills.
President Bola Tinubu’s government sent the Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly but the move has steered controversy in the country.
Some critics argue that the bills are skewed against the northern region while others claim they should be stepped down for further review.
But Dogara has faulted the criticisms of the bills and wants Nigerians to critically examine their benefits.
“We should remove the cap of regionalism, the cap of sectionalism, the cap of religion and put on the cup of leadership because that is what will resolve the quarrel that we have,” he said on Channels Television’s Special Town Hall on the Tax Reform Bills which aired on Monday.
‘Is it the Right Thing?’
With inflation over 30 per cent and millions of Nigerians battling to buy basic commodities, critics believe the Tax Reform Bills are coming at the wrong time.
Others say the is inadequate consultations over the bills.
These arguments, according to Dogara, are insufficient to throw the bills away.
“I think one of the major objections is related to the issue of timing. I’ve heard this from leaders that I respect.
“But in leadership, when you talk about timing, the way I have heard them talk about is a tragic misconception of the notion of time itself because there’s nothing like the future, there’s nothing like the past,” he said.
“All we have is now. It is what you are doing now that will become your past. It is what you are doing now that will affect your future”.
“I don’t even care if it was part of the president’s agenda. All I am bothered with as a leader is: is it the right thing?”
“Secondly, I have heard about insufficient consultation. I had heard even legislators speaking as if they were spokespersons for some governors’ forum or others instead of looking at what is right and proferring solutions.
“Now, I don’t know why he [Taiwo Oyedele who leads the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee and a panelist for the event] didn’t address some of these issues. But I believe in the course of our interface, he will address whether there was enough consultation with the governors.
“But I want to say this: at the state level, how many people do governors consult when they are making laws? I’m not challenging them. As a matter of fact, in some cases, state laws are written from the living rooms of governors.”
Chairman Tax Reform Committee–Oyedele
The Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee Taiwo Oyedele urged Nigerians not to allow few grey areas in the proposed tax reform bills to cause obstruction to the passage of the bills.
Controversies have trailed the bills since it was sent to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, with prominent northern leaders vehemently rejecting the bills on the claims that they are against the region.
The National Economic Council consisting of the 36 state governors has also advised Tinubu to withdraw the bills to allow for wider consultations, but the President said he preferred that the bills go through the legislative processes.
Meanwhile, speaking on a Townhall on the Tax Reform Bills organized by Channels Television on Monday, Oyedele whose committee midwifed the document, noted that there are over 200 transformative provisions that can fix the country in the bills.
“These Bills Have More than 200 transformative provisions to fix our country and set us on the right part to prosperity,” Oyedele said on the Townhall.
“We should not allow one or two provisions that we can easily discuss and agree on to become the pain or the bottleneck.”
Oyedele said that Nigerians who support the Tax Reform Bills are over 90 per cent, noting that the areas there controversies are few which can be ironed out.
He reeled out some of the benefits of the bills, he said they will exempt low income earners completely from paying taxes. He said it will also reduce the PAYE of middle income earners.
With these two, Oyedele not that more that 90 per cent tax burden on Nigerian workers will be reduced.
Why Governors Wanted Tax Reform Bills Withdrawn – Gov Sule
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has said that it is wrong to say that governors of the 36 states are against the Tax Reform Bills, explaining that they only wanted to get clarifications in some areas.
Speaking during Channels Televisions Townhall on the Tax Reform Bills on Monday, the governor hailed the bills but stated that there are questions that needed answers.
“The issue of increasing the VAT from 20 per cent to 60 per cent at the point of generation, and I am happy that Taiwo said it has now changed not just at the point of generation but also consumption, that is fine.
“Those were some of the issues mentioned by the governors. The governors said, you know what, why don’t you withdraw the bills, let us discuss it, let us understand it,” Governor Sule said.
He said that the Townhall meeting which was organized by Channels Television is part of events that should have happened before the bills were sent to the National Assembly.
According to him, if some of these steps were taken by the Taiwo Oyedele’s Tax Reform Committee and things were properly explained, there won’t have been any call to withdraw the bills which is the point the governors were making.
Responding, Oyedele thanked Governor Sule and the Governor’s Forum for their feedback which he said he takes seriously, explaining that calling for series of meetings with the governors would have delayed the bills.
The tax reform committee chair noted that the Committee tried to engage Nigerians on the bills, but people did not show much interest.
He, however, said that the Committee is ready to repeat some of the processes and explain things further now that it seems like people have become interested in the bills.
The proposed Tax Reform Bills have generated a lot of controversies since its introduction at the National Assembly. It has been met with serious resistant especially from the Northern part of the country.
Following the controversies these bills have generated, the National Economic Council had advised President Bola Tinubu to withdrawal the bills to allow for further consultations but he had refused and said that the bills should go through the necessary legislative processes.
Last week, the bills were passed at the Senate for second reading through voice votes.
The proposed legislation seeks to harmonize, coordinate, and resolve disputes arising from revenue administration in Nigeria.
