National Economic Council (NEC) has asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withdraw the tax reform bills from the national assembly to give room for consultations.
Gatekeepers News reports that the council made the recommendation after its meeting on Thursday.
President Tinubu had on October 3, asked national assembly to consider and pass four tax reform bills including Nigeria tax bill, tax administration bill, and joint revenue board establishment bill.
Oyo state Governor, Seyi Makinde while addressing state house correspondents after the meeting, said that members of NEC opined that the bill should be withdrawn to allow for consensus building and understanding of the bill among Nigerians.
He said, “NEC today took a presentation from the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms. Their main focus is fair taxation, responsible borrowing and sustainable spending.”
The Governor said the council acknowledged the country’s underperformance across all indices related to major revenue sources, including the tax-to-GDP ratio and other indicators.
He added, “So after extensive deliberation, NEC noted the need for sufficient alignment between and amongst the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.”
“So, Council therefore recommend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people…for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax reform, because there’s really a lot of miscommunication, misinformation.”
“So, the bill will draw from the National Assembly and then there will be consultations afterwards.”
