Tax Reform Bills: Senate Sets Up Review Committee, with AGF
The Senate on Wednesday set up a committee to review the controversial tax reform bill that is before the National Assembly. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin disclosed this during plenary on Wednesday.
The decision follows a series of deliberations by lawmakers aimed at resolving disagreements over key provisions in the proposed legislation.
Tax reform bill has been generating issues, especially with northern governors who have spotted grey areas that they claim could impoverish their region. Some critics also claimed they were not consulted in the process.
The dissents believe the bill should be discarded by the Federal Government has shown significant interest in getting the bill passed. In the last couple of days, the contentious areas have sparked debates among stakeholders who feel there is a hidden agenda that the presidency is pursuing.
The Committee headed by Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) will meet with the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, are to address grey areas in the bills and revert to Senate before public hearing.
Barau, who presided over the session, said that the executive arm of the government agreed with the Senate that there is need to resolve all the issues causing disagreements in the bills. Barau said, “We decided to put politics, ethnicity, regionalism aside to sit among ourselves in order to find a way forward in respect to issues affecting the tax reform bills.
“It is on this note that we extended our view to the executive arm of government, and it was agreed that there should be a forum to sit down to look at the areas that are creating disagreements in order to resolve them so that the entire country will remain united in our efforts to solve our problems.
“Before the introduction of these bills, we know we have been faced with several problems; insecurity that we and the president have been trying to solve, issues about our economy which is in line with global economic problems. And we also agreed that we shouldn’t allow any other to come in to aggravate the problems of our country.
“It is on this note that it has been agreed by the executive and by us that there should be a forum that should sit with the Attorney General of the Federation so that we can sit and look at all the areas of disagreement and resolve them for the interest of this nation.
“It is therefore proposed that tomorrow there will be a meeting with the committee that will be set here to sit down with the Attorney General to look at those issues and resolve them.
“It is on this note that the Committee on Finance has been referred to halt action with public hearings and other issues until we resolve those issues.” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on October 3, 2024, forwarded four tax reform bills to the National Assembly.
The proposed Tax Reform Bills have generated a lot of controversies since its introduction at the National Assembly, meeting serious resistant especially from the northern part of the country.
Following the controversies the 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. FBN Holdings Sheds 8% as Investors Exit Positions
