As conversations continue to evolve concerning the hotly debated Tax Reforms Bills, Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, has claimed that only Lagos and Rivers states stand the chance of benefitting maximally from President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills.
The bills are 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.
The governor who appeared on a popular current affairs TV program said the position was based on research and calculations by northern governors, although he debunked the claims that the North was against President Tinubu’s presidency.
He also clarified why President Tinubu was persuaded by the northern governors to wait before introducing the contentious laws.
Zulum said. “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.”
According to him, their position and advocacy was for more time to enable them to engage in more consultation and to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law.
Zulum clarified that only Lagos State would be the primary beneficiary of the scheme, meaning other states would be shortchanged if the measure passed the National Assembly.
Recall that in October, President Tinubu asked the National Assembly to assent to passing the bills into law.
But on November 28, the tax reform bills passed a second reading in the Senate.
He affirmed that, as against insinuations in some quarters, the northern governors are not against President Tinubu’s administration.
Zulum recalled that he was among the few governors who demanded that power be transferred to the south prior to the general election in 2023.
The governor explained that as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he backed Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
He asserts that since the north accounted for more than 60% of Tinubu’s votes in the general elections of 2023, the region cannot be against him.
He expressed sadness that some were spreading the false narrative that the north opposes Tinubu’s administration.
“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 percent of his votes came from the north.
“But later on, people have turned it upside down. I want you to believe that our consultation is central to democracy, and in a democratic setting, we are begging for the right to be consulted. This is only what has happened,” he added.
