The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, yesterday pushed back on allegations that the panel did not consult with Nigerian governors, disclosing that the heads of the sub-national governments canceled four scheduled meetings.
Oyedele, who appeared on Arise Television, also disclosed that in the course of consultations, the committee met physically with at least 120 Muslim clerics, mostly from the north as well as the League of Democrats, to break down the implications of the ongoing tax reforms.
Earlier, an elder statesman and northern politician, Buba Galadima had while appearing on the same programme anchored by Dr Reuben Abati, insisted that the bills were only fair to Ogun and Lagos states, maintaining that the Oyedele-led group failed to meet with any governor except that of Lagos state.
Galadima also alleged that members of the panel were disowning the report behind the chairman, observing that some members of the committee said they were not carried along before the decisions on the bills were taken.
The introduction of the bills had sparked widespread debates, especially in the north, which has said that the Value Added Tax (VAT) will cut its accruals from the federation account. But the bills had been taken before the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) before they were sent to the National Assembly.
The proposed legislation aims to overhaul the country’s tax collection and administration systems, presenting an opportunity to create a more equitable and efficient taxation model. They include: The Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.
However, one of the bills, especially the one which proposes a derivation-based model for VAT distribution, has been rejected by the 19 northern governors and traditional rulers and many northern leaders.
But Oyedele, who faulted Galadima’s allegations, stated that the committee set up on August 8, 2023, has widespread membership, at a time hitting over 120 members, from all the geopolitical zones.
“We have more than 20 government institutions represented. We have the private sector, whether it’s manufacturers, whether it’s women in business. We have 45 students from 22 universities across Nigeria.
“In addition to that, we had extensive engagement with the governors. I went to the governors’ forum. We wrote and wanted to meet with six governors, one from each of the six geopolitical zones. Up until this moment, it’s only the governor of Lagos state we were able to see.
“The other governor who was willing to welcome us was the governor of Kaduna state. And after all the logistics, we agreed on the date, on that day he wasn’t able to attend. It was the deputy governor that hosted us. I will not name the other governors, but I can actually if I need to. They didn’t have time for us.
“The governors’ forum themselves invited us four times and canceled four times. The fifth time, we were kept waiting until 1.30 a.m., in the middle of the night. By the time they had time for us, they said we had 15 minutes.
“And I said, your excellencies, we have a lot to talk about. They said, tell us how our revenues will go up. Even that, we couldn’t say in 15 minutes. We had a half a day engagement with the finance commissioners from across Nigeria. We’ve had more than four engagements with the heads of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from all over Nigeria.
“We’ve had engagements with different groups, more than 40 sectors, from manufacturers to SMEs to FinTech. And these things were published,” Oyedele stressed, while defending the work of the committee.According to him, the panel accelerated the compilation of the reforms because aside from the fact that Nigeria does not have the luxury of time, as it needs to relieve the ‘pain’ very quickly, the nation also needs to be set on the right path to development. (Thisday)