Tax Reform Bills: Dogara, Shinkafi Slam Northern Governors

Northern governors in the country have come under heavy criticisms from two kinsmen over their condemnation of the Tax Reform Bills.

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has urged northerners not to criticise President Bola Tinubu over the proposed tax reform bills.

The Eagle reports that the governor of Borno State Babagana Zulum for example, has been very voiceferous in is condemnation of the bill, warning that it would expose the north to suffering.

“If the president wants to use his power to pass the tax bill, he may have his way, but it has its consequences on the people”, he stated, adding that it was only Lagos and Rivers that would benefit from the new tax regime.

Zulum and others in his camp have themselves come under heavy criticism for their opposition to the tax reform bills.

First is former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and also The Executive Director of Patriots for Advancement of Peace and Social Development, Dr. Sani Shinkafi, who both slammed Zulum for his position.

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Dogara who spoke at a Channels Television programme, contended that governors and other elites criticising the bills were doing so from an uninformed perspective.

He said they should rather consider the benefits of the reforms, especially in addressing key issues across the country.

“I want to talk to my brothers in the North. I don’t think this is the time for us to begin to condemn the president and to begin to say that on account of these bills, he is anti-north because I want to remind us that the president has done something that is significant.

“If he can pursue this to the end, it would be that there is no northern leader of my lifetime that has done what the president has done for the north.

“And I will tell you [what he has achieved] is the creation of the livestock ministry. There is a global business around that.

“The global market size of dairies of beef in the next three years will rise to about $2.5 trillion. You can Google it. So if in the north, we are able to organise ourselves in such a way that we can corner just 5%, just 5% of this global market size of dairies and beef, I tell you that gives us $250 billion.

“We don’t need VAT from any state in Nigeria to survive. The North can survive on its own. We are the most endowed part of Nigeria.”

Dogara also dismissed concerns over insufficient consultations and timing of the tax reform bills, arguing that what matters is whether the reforms are right, not the political agenda or past discussions.

According to Dr. Sani Shinkafi, state governors resisting the proposed tax reform bills, are just unwilling to develop strategies to generate internal revenue.

“Because the monies are going to be shared based on performance and contribution, they are complaining.

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“Most of these states are lazy, most of them are not ready to develop their states to generate revenue, that is why they are complaining”, he told Arise News.

Shinkafi strongly defended the contentious tax reform bills and described the attack by the Northern Youth Assembly as uncalled for.

For the Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, implementing the tax reform bills will put an end to the financial recklessness of the elites.

He referred to what he described as Nigeria’s untapped potential and the need for better structures to harness its citizens’ energy and talents.

“Nigeria is a very energetic country with people that are so eminently gifted and are roaring to soar at any time.

“However, our problem is the inability of states to create enough gatherings to contain the energy, vision, and competing narratives of their citizens. This lack of competitive gatherings often spills over into violence.

“Any form of reform at all must get this thoroughly dysfunctional country working again.