Four months after forwarding tax reform bills to both chambers of the National Assembly for consideration and passage, President Bola Tinubu has urged the Senate to provide him with workable laws from the proposals.
Various stakeholders rallied behind the previously contentious bills during a public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja on Monday. The Arewa Think Tank, led by convener Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, dismissed claims that the northern region opposed the proposed laws.
President Tinubu’s request for workable laws from the bills—(i) The Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, (ii) Nigerian Tax Administration Bill 2024, (iii) Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill 2024, and (iv) Joint Revenue Board Bill 2024—was disclosed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa (Niger East), during his remarks at the hearing.
“I met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu two days ago regarding the tax reform bills, and he told me, ‘Mr Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, go and do the needful. Give me a law that is workable from the tax reform bills I forwarded to the Senate and House of Representatives in October last year.’
“That request from Mr President comes at a most appropriate time for this public hearing on the tax reform bills, which are not designed to burden any section of the country or grant undue advantage to others,” he said.
It will be recalled that various groups strongly opposed the bills last year, delaying their passage in the House of Representatives. While the Senate managed to pass them for second reading on 28 November 2024, resistance persisted.
However, during the public hearing, declared open by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, opposition to the bills dissipated as stakeholders one after another voiced their support.
