The Senator representing Edo South in the National Assembly, Senator Neda Imasuen, has described tax reform bills of president Tinubu administration as timely and long overdue.
Senator Neda who is the Chairman committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition in the ‘red chamber’ made the remark on Monday while addressing a group of journalists in the National Assembly.
He called for patience and more understanding of the content of the bill while stating that the controversy it has generated was unnecessary.
Recall that some groups from the Northern part of the country had kicked against the bills citing Section 77 of as a structural shift that could deepen economic inequalities between Northern and Southern Nigeria.
They noted that while Lagos consolidates its financial dominance, Northern Nigeria would risk losing vital resources critical for its development.
Some senators, state governors insisted that the impact on Northern states that have relied heavily on equitable VAT redistribution, risk losing up to 30 to 40 per cent of their current allocations, and thus severely affecting states like Sokoto, Gombe, and Zamfara, which have limited economic activities and depend heavily on federal allocations.
“ I ‘ve always said this , our governors are lazy. They have to look for every other way they can generate revenue.. Revenue generation isn’t just the monthly subvention that comes from the federal government. If that is the sole reason for governance, then it should be closed up . So I just believe that the state governors should look inwards and see what is within it and begin to harness.
“This will of course, bring about healthy competitions between the states. So a situation where it is said whether you contribute or not, VAT is divided according to population or other indices doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.
He further stated that their role as legislators is to dialogue and find solution to the challenges to ensure stability in the polity .
“ We are parliamentarians , I think the essence of the bill has bren what we do is to dialogue.
“I think the bill has been grossly misunderstood by segments of the society and so we still need some time to deliberate and talk to one another and see how we can get out of this . If you ask me, the review is overdue in this country . We have to revamp and rejig our tax system and laws to address the present day reality.
According to him, the tax reform is to address national problem and not targeted at anybody.
“It is a national tax reform bill , it is not targeted at any region or section of the country nor section of the economy. It is a law that tend to address many issues in the country.”
