Tax Reform Bills: North Has Other Revenue Sources

Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, has said that the state and other northern states cannot be parasitic elements to always depend on the federal government, other bodies or organisations, saying the region has other revenue sources.

The governor, who was reacting to the Tax Reform Bills now before the National Assembly submitted recently by President Bola Tinubu, said that industrially weak states could leverage on agriculture and mineral resources as their sources of revenues.

“These hard times are challenging to us. I have always said that we cannot be parasitic. We – including states like Bauchi, our neighbour Plateau and indeed most of the Northern states – have all it takes to be financially independent.

“We can leverage on agriculture, solid minerals and other revenues. We must make sure that our youths, religious leaders, traditional rulers and indeed all the citizens change our mindsets so that we can cultivate the required patriotism and focus,” he said.

Senator Bala Mohammed who was addressing the opening session of the routine State Executive Council meeting in Bauchi, said, “We are too large to be ignored or to ignore ourselves because if there should be any humanitarian crisis, I don’t know where we would be, even as a continent or globally.

“So we should not always be crying and become the weaker voice. We should stand up and work very hard and by the grace of God, we are the leaders that God has chosen to be here at this material time; we cannot be engaging in blame games and the rest,” the governor added.

He observed that the issue of tax reform and other initiatives of the federal government are totally against non-producing states majority of which are in the North, hence the need for them to think outside the box.

“It is against us; it is not going to favour us. We have to look at it because at the end of the day, we’ll just become consumers or onlookers in the federation of Nigeria,” he stated.

The governor therefore urged President Tinubu to critically look at the issue, saying, “We are urging our leader, our president and indeed all leaders to look at it holistically. I know as politicians, we are out to serve everyone.

“I know Mr President is a listening president; he would look at it so that at the end, we will not have a cause for blood pressure, especially those of us that are not manufacturing; those of us that are states that don’t have the headquarters of the major companies and other organisations that are generating revenues.”