By Abiola Olawale
A former Governor of Kano State and the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party(NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has raised serious concerns about the proposed tax reform bills, which are before the National Assembly.
Kwankwaso who contested the 2023 presidential election under the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), alleged that the proposed tax reform bill is a ploy by some “entities” in Lagos State to “cheat” the northern region of Nigeria.
The former governor made this assertion during his address at the convocation ceremony of Skyline University held at the Ammani Centre, Nassarawa GRA, Kano state.
According to him, the recent royal tussle on the stool of the Emir of Kano has the interference of the said “entities” in Lagos State.
He stated: “The Emir has just been installed at this difficult time in our country, especially in this part of the country, northern Nigeria.
“Today, we can see very clearly that there is a lot of effort from the Lagos axis to colonise this part of the country.
“Today, Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose our Emir. Lagos has to come to the centre of Kano to put their own Emir.
“Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.
“We have seen the effort of some people to make the poor poorer and the rich richer. And I believe this is very dangerous for us.
“This part of the country today is suffering from a serious economic crunch, insecurity, poverty, hunger, and diseases.
“I believe this is not good for the cordial existence of our country. At this moment, I would like to call on all our national assembly members to keep their eyes open so that they don’t do anything that will cheat the people of northern Nigeria, especially here in Kano.
“We are witnesses to what happened during the first term of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003, where our members of the national assembly were bribed into collecting a huge sum of money to support onshore/offshore in the country.
“That law put a huge blow on our economy in northern Nigeria and all other states.”
It would be recalled that there have been heated debates since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on October 3 wrote to the National Assembly, asking them to consider and pass four tax reform bills.
The intense debate bordered on the Nigeria tax bill, the tax administration bill, and the joint revenue board establishment bill.
Joining the debates, the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), on October 28, opposed the bills, arguing that the proposed legislation would harm the region’s interests.
The governors asked the national assembly to reject the bills, demanding equitable and fair implementation of national policies and programmes across all regions.
Similarly, the National Economic Council (NEC) also asked Tinubu to withdraw the bills to give room for consultations.
However, Tinubu, on November 1, maintained that the bills would not be withdrawn from the national assembly, noting that the proposed laws are designed to improve the lives of Nigerians and optimise existing tax frameworks.
