By Abiola Olawale
Despite emerging calls for the withdrawal of the tax reform bills, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has maintained that the bills would not be withdrawn from the National Assembly.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made this disclosure in a press statement issued on Friday.
Onanuga said the President has directed that the bill should remain at the National Assembly and go through the legislative process.
The Senior Presidential aide also added that Tinubu had received all the advice from relevant stakeholders about the tax reform bills, adding that all the concerns about the bills would be sorted out soon.
The statement reads in part: “He believes that the legislative process, which has already begun, provides an opportunity for inputs and necessary changes without withdrawing the bills from the National Assembly.
“While urging the NEC to allow the process to take its full course, President Tinubu welcomes further consultations and engagement with key stakeholders to address any reservations about the bills while the National Assembly considers them for passage.
“When President Tinubu set up the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reform in August 2023, he had only one objective: to reposition the economy for better productivity and efficiency and make the operating environment for investment and businesses more conducive. This objective remains more critical even today than ever before.”
This comes after the National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday expressed reservations over the Tax Reform Bill forwarded by Tinubu to the National Assembly.
Addressing the State House Correspondents after the meeting, Governor Seyi Makinde said that the NEC noted the need for sufficient alignment between and amongst the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.
Makinde added that the NEC observed that adequate consultations needed to be made to get the views of stakeholders, including the state governors, to ensure that the law is favourable to all Nigerians.
He said: “NEC today took a presentation from the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms. Their main focus is fair taxation, responsible borrowing, and sustainable spending.
“The Council acknowledged that the country is underperforming on all indices as regards yield from major revenue sources, also tax to GDP ratio and so on.
“So after extensive deliberation, NEC noted the need for sufficient alignment between and amongst the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.
“So Council, therefore, recommend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people, for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax reform because there’s a lot of miscommunication, misinformation.”
It would be recalled that the bill was forwarded to NASS based on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms set up by the President to help boost revenue generation in the country.
