NEC Advises Withdrawal of Tax Reform Bills as Opposition Grows

The National Economic Council (NEC) has advised the withdrawal of the Tax reforms bill already at the National Assembly as opposition to the bills grows.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State who briefed newsmen at the state house after the NEC 142 meeting headed by the Vice President Kashim Shatima said following the controversies that arose as a result of the bills, NEC decided the bills be withdrawn so that stakeholders could be carried along.

The Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) chaired by Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, had earlier rejected the derivation-based model for Value Added Tax (VAT) distribution in the new tax bills.

Similarly, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa clarified that the governors were against the bill that is unfair to the north but not against Tinubu or his reforms.

“It’s very clear. I worked for some of these multi-national. I know how VAT is paid. When we were importing raw material at Dangote at Apapa port. We paid VAT first and then the finished product had VAT added to it.”

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), a pan-northern interests’ group, through its national coordinator, Comrade Aliyu Jamilu Charanchi rejected the proposed tax bill reforms, saying “we will not accept anything that is designed to shortchange northern Nigeria.”

Earlier, on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the tax system being proposed is to create a fairer system.

“The current model for distributing VAT is based on where the tax is remitted rather than where goods and services are supplied or consumed. The ongoing tax reform seeks to correct the inherent inequity in the current derivation model as a basis for distributing VAT revenue.”

“The new proposal before the National Assembly outlines a different form of derivation which considers the place of supply or consumption for relevant goods and services. This means that states in the Northern region that produce the food we eat should not lose out just because their products are VAT-exempt or consumed in other states,” he had said.