Zamfara Can’t Pay Salaries Under Tax Reform Bills – Gov Lawal

Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, has said the implementation of the newly proposed tax reform bill would make the state poorer and be unable to pay workers’ monthly salaries.

The presidency had submitted four bills under tax reform to the National Assembly for necessary legislative action. The bills include the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024-SB.583; Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024-SB.584; Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, 2024-SB.585 and Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024-SB.586.

The bills seek to review current formulae of how the federal government shares value added tax (VAT) revenue that states generate. Also, the bills seek to increase the VAT, a move economic experts criticise for being plausible to worsen the current economic hardship Nigerians are going through and diminish their purchasing power.

In an interview with BBC Hausa Service aired yesterday and monitored by our correspondent in Bauchi, Governor Lawal said the implementation of the Tax Reform Bills would be destructive to the financial status of Zamfara and other northern states.

“I don’t agree with the provisions of the Tax Reform Bills. There is still a need to review the provisions of the bills to avoid impoverishing states.

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“I won’t be able to pay workers’ salaries under Tax Reform Bills. It will be destructive and make us unable to pay salaries in the north,” he said.

Also, the governor explained that Zamfara was not hesitating to implement N70,000 minimum wage for civil servants in the state.

“We have set up a committee to review strategies for implementing the new national minimum wage in Zamfara. And, the committee engaged with labour leaders and agreed to carry out due diligence to ascertain the actual number of workers on the payroll,” he said.

He claimed that Zamfara workers have confidence that the N70,000 minimum wage would be implemented in the state to improve their welfare and productivity.

“We have increased workers’ salary from a paltry N30,000 to N70,000,” he said, adding that his administration changed the narrative for Zamfara workers through prompt and timely salary payment.

“Before I came on board, the Zamfara government owed civil servants salaries but I cleared that within the few years I have been in office. This shows commitment to the welfare of workers,” he explained.