One of the leading critics of the tax reform bills, Senator Ali Ndume, has said that grey areas in the bills being opposed by different groups have not been ironed out despite the presidency’s claims that a reviewed version of the bills had been resent to the National Assembly for considerations.
President Bola Tinubu presented the Tax Reform Bills to the National Assembly, a move to amend Nigeria’s tax law, which has caused heated debates and division among leaders in the country.
Debates and criticisms on the provisions of the bills forced President Tinubu and the National Assembly to defer consideration and approval of the bills and ordered their review.
Rising from a meeting, state governors made amendments to the president’s Tax Reform Bills, especially the VAT section, which has been the most controversial.
However, speaking with BBC Hausa Service yesterday, Senator Ndume said that there were still provisions of the bills that need to be fixed after the decision and recommendations of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
“What the governors have done is a huge progress to fix some of the main issues in the bill but we don’t have clear details of the revised bills,” Ndume said.
The senator said that the suggestions made by other groups on ways to make the bills fair to all sections of the country should continue to be heard and respected.
“The path to reform has now been opened, unlike earlier when the path to reform was closed, now the rest of the work is in the hands of the people and the lawmakers,” he emphasised.