Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has cautioned President Bola Tinubu against forcing his way to have tax reform bills passed by the National Assembly, saying it would have consequences for the masses.
Mr Zulum, who gave the caution during an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, acknowledged Mr Tinubu’s ability to push the legislation forward.
He, however, said doing so would be at the detriment of the masses.
“We know the power of the president. I’m a system man; I respect him,” Mr Zulum said.
He added that, “If the president wants to use his power to pass the tax bill, he may have his way, but it has its consequences for the people.”
The governors also explained why the Northern Governors Forum and the National Economic Council advised Mr Tinubu to withdraw the controversial bills from the National Assembly.
He said the withdrawal would give governors more time to consult widely on the effects of the bills to sub-nationals.
Mr Zulum explained that if the bill scales through the National Assembly, many states would be shortchanged.
He noted that only Lagos State would be the main beneficiary of the policy.
“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law, based on the calculations that we did, only Lagos and Rivers States will benefit from this scheme. We did our own research and concluded that we would lose,” Mr Zulum said.
“Why are we in a rush? We advised the Federal Government to take a pause and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to Northern Nigeria.
“What we are saying is that give more time, let us do a deeper consultation to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law”, he added.
