By Mark Orgu, News/Comments
The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, has once again rejected the proposed tax bill of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu while speaking on Channels TV, Sunday’s politics Today, reiterating the earlier position of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF). The governor noted however, that, enough time is needed for the north to continue on due consultations for proper participation on the bill if need be and warned against those misquoting him.
“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,”
“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.”
The Governor regretted why some individuals quoted the stance of the NGF on the bill out of context that they are against President Tinubu, stressing, they were the one who insisted power must shift to the south, which the governors supported Tinubu to emerge in 2023 presidential election, detailing the efforts the All Progressives Congress (APC) made in the process.
“I am a strong member of APC. If you can count two governors before 2019 and 2023 who were in support of Tinubu, you can mention Governor Zulum. I was the first governor to come out publicly and say that power must go to the South. Unfortunately, the President was told by many that the North was against him. 60.2 per cent of his votes came from the north,” he stressed
Recall that Channels TV has previously reported that in October this year, the President requested the National Assembly to assent to pass the bills into law. The bills include 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. Recall also that on November 28, the bills passed a second reading in the Senate, even with resistance from some northern senators like Ndume.
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