Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has urged those criticizing the federal government’s ongoing tax reform process to carefully understudy the four bills before the National Assembly and offer suitable alternatives to structure the tax bills properly. The bills are designed to reposition the nation’s economy.
The budget minister said the process is not a monologue and that President Bola Tinubu’s government is open to dialogue and suggestions to fine-tune the bills to achieve the key objective of creating an efficient and effective tax system that ensures compliance and promotes ease of doing business.
“And we are dealing with a President, God bless him, who is very democratic. He listens to others. He expects people to make contributions. So, whatever legislation it is. Let people make reasonable, respectable, proper nationalistic contributions for a better outcome.
“They should participate. Democracy is, how did they get the opportunity to discuss it? It was not a decree that was signed. You discuss, you talk to your representative, you lobby, you explain, you ask, you interrogate,” Senator Bagudu stated in an interview with selected journalists on the sidelines of the just concluded Bankers’ Committee Retreat in Abuja.
He said the measures taken to reform the old-fashioned tax system were taken by Tinubu who believes in Nigeria, who loves Nigeria, who wants to see a united Nigeria growing and fulfilling the dreams of all Nigerians.
While he acknowledged that the throating issues can be debated about the controversial tax bills, he said: “What is wrong is for us, given the great effort that we are doing to put our economy in the right direction, to be swayed by arguments of tribalism, of religion, of sentimental arguments.” Bagudu said the President and indeed his government, are determined that Nigeria takes its place of pride in the community of nations.
On the fears that the tax reform will lead to unemployment, especially in the north, Bagudu said the main aim is to simplify tax compliance for small companies and not strangulate them. The current administration has invested about N55.657 billion in supporting privately owned businesses. “We will not do anything that will sabotage employment generation. Any measure we take is intended to generate major economic activity and growth. We want them to be the engines of growth. We want them to grow and create jobs,” he said, adding that the aim would be defeated with the current wild list of legislations that they don’t even know how to comply with.
He complained that the multiple taxation system in Nigeria has made invoicing higher by over 40% when compared to other African countries, including Ghana and Cameroon. “So one has to be holistic. We are under pressure that Nigeria to maintain a higher level of growth. We want to generate growth,” he stated.
The economic minister urged Nigerians to join the conversation through the submission of memoranda and lobbying the National Assembly to structure the reform in the best way for the economy, and not unnecessarily engage in disparaging and sabotage. “We should not get angry at each other, we should complement each other.” He said the Tinubu-led government is in a hurry to achieve the development it wants in Nigeria.
He urged the discerning voices in the north to trust him to better represent their interest on the table of resource allocation to ensure equity, fairness and justice to all parts of the country. “So please let us know that I as a Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, I’m one of the most prominent members of the team Asiwaju.”
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