Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has advised President Bola Tinubu against exerting undue pressure to pass tax reform bills through the National Assembly, warning that such actions could negatively impact the masses.
In an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, Governor Zulum acknowledged President Tinubu’s capacity to drive the legislation forward but cautioned that pushing the reforms without careful consideration could have adverse consequences for the public.
“We know the power of the president. I’m a system man; I respect him,” Mr Zulum said.
Read Also: Zulum Lists States That Will Benefit From Tinubu’s Tax Reforms
He added that, “If the president wants to use his power to pass the tax bill, he may have his way, but it has its consequences for the people.”
The governors also provided an explanation for why the Northern Governors Forum and the National Economic Council recommended that President Tinubu withdraw the controversial bills from the National Assembly.
They stated that withdrawing the bills would allow governors additional time to conduct thorough consultations on their potential impact on sub-national governments.
Governor Zulum further clarified that if the bill were to pass through the National Assembly, many states would be disadvantaged.
He emphasized that Lagos State would be the primary beneficiary of the proposed policy.
“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,” Mr Zulum said.
“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 added.
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