Senate has set up a special committee to meet with a federal government delegation over tax reform bills.
Gatekeepers News reports that deputy senate president, Barau Jibrin announced members of the committee during plenary on Wednesday.
He said, “We don’t want the country disunited. So, the delegations will meet to resolve the grey areas.”
Members of the committee include Abba Moro, minority leader; Tahir Monguno, chief whip; Adamu Ailero (Kebbi central); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa west), Titus Zam (Benue south), Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi north), Adeola Olamilekan (Ogun west), Sani Musa (Niger east) and Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos east).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on Tuesday, directed Ministry of Justice to work with national assembly to address concerns about the bills.
Before this, the president had on October 3, asked the national assembly to consider and pass the court tax reform bill; Nigeria tax bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.
Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) opposed the bill on October 28. They argued that the proposed legislation would harm the region’s interests.
The Governors asked national assembly to reject the bills, demanding an equitable and fair implementation of national policies and programmes across all regions.
Also, the National Economic Council (NEC) asked Tinubu to withdraw the bills to give room for consultations.
On November 1, Tinubu said the bills would not be withdrawn from the national assembly because the proposed laws were designed to improve the lives of Nigerians and optimise existing tax frameworks.
The bills passed a second reading at the senate last Thursday.
