Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, explained on Sunday why northern governors advised President Bola Tinubu to delay the controversial tax reform bills. Zulum emphasized that the Northern Governors Forum sought more time for consultation before moving forward with the legislation.
There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the tax issue, Zulum said. Our research shows that the VAT provision in the proposed tax law would primarily benefit Lagos and Rivers States, while other northern states would face losses.
Zulum further explained that the northern governors felt it was important to pause and review certain clauses in the tax reform bills, which they believed were detrimental to Northern Nigeria. He called for deeper consultations to fully understand the impact of the tax regime before the bills are passed into law.
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The tax reform bills include the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024; the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024; the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, 2024; and the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024. These bills were introduced to the National Assembly by President Tinubu in October and have since passed their second reading in the Senate on November 28.
Governor Zulum clarified that the northern governors were not opposed to President Tinubu’s administration, as some have suggested. He pointed out that, before the 2023 general elections, he was one of the few governors who advocated for power to be rotated to the southern region.
Zulum, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), supported Tinubu’s presidential campaign and played an instrumental role in securing the president’s victory, with over 60% of Tinubu’s votes coming from the north.
Zulum expressed disappointment that some have falsely portrayed the northern governors as antagonistic toward the president’s government. I am a strong member of the APC. Before 2019 and 2023, I was one of the few governors supporting Tinubu, he said.
I was the first to publicly call for power to shift to the south. Unfortunately, some have spread a narrative that the north is against Tinubu, despite the fact that more than 60% of his votes came from the region. In conclusion, Zulum reiterated the need for more consultation on the tax bills, stressing that northern states could be adversely affected if the reforms were implemented without sufficient review.