The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has rejected claims that the 36 state governors are against the tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, it is wrong to say the state governors are against the bills.
Speaking on Monday during a special town hall event by Channels Television on the Tax Reform Bills, Governor Sule disclosed that the demand of the state governors is that the bill be withdrawn to allow for further consultations and clarification of grey areas.
According to him, the bill is not a problem, but they need answers to some questions regarding the provisions of the bill and their request is that the bill be withdrawn in order to first answer the questions.
“The issue of increasing the VAT from 20 per cent to 60 per cent at the point of generation, and I am happy that Taiwo said it has now changed not just at the point of generation but also consumption, that is fine.
“Those were some of the issues mentioned by the governors. The governors said, you know what, why don’t you withdraw the bills, let us discuss it, let us understand it,” Governor Sule said.
According to him, the Townhall meeting, which happened on Monday, as well as some other steps, should have been taken earlier by the Tax Reform Committee before the bill was forwarded to the National Assembly.
Responding, the Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, appreciated Governor Sule for the feedback.
He also revealed that the committee had tried to enlighten Nigerians and other stakeholders before the bill was sent to the National Assembly, but the response was not encouraging.
Oyedele, however submitted that the committee is ready to repeat some of the processes in order to clarify grey areas to members of the public and stakeholders.