NEC recommends withdrawal of Tinubu’s tax reform bills

The National Executive Council has recommended the withdrawal of the four tax reform bills sent to the parliament by President Bola Tinubu.

The NEC, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, took the decision at its meeting held at the Presidential Villa on Thursday. Membership of the NEC includes the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who was one of the attendees who briefed journalists, said the NEC called for the withdrawal so that “we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms…”

PREMIUM TIMES reported the controversy the bills have generated with the Northern Governors Forum rejecting them.

President Tinubu sent the four bills to the National Assembly as part of efforts to overhaul Nigeria’s tax system. The bills seek to, among others, create a central revenue service that will collect all government revenues including those currently being collected by agencies like the customs and the ports authority. The bills also seek to allocate more VAT revenues to states but would allow states where the VATs are generated to get the lion’s share. It is that latter position that northern leaders believe would not favour states in the region.

More details later…