The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), as well as a former general secretary of the Yoruba Elders Council (YCE), Dr Kunle Olajide, expressed reservations over the rejection of the bill by governors and other stakeholders in the North, which they made public at the end of a meeting held in Kaduna on Monday.
The bills, aimed at reforming tax collection in Nigeria, include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, Tax Administration Bill, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.
In the communiqué of the meeting read to journalists by the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, the leaders also urged members of the National Assembly from the North to reject all bills that are not in the interest of the North.
Part of it read: “Forum notes with dismay the content of the recent Tax Reform Bill that was forwarded to the National Assembly.
“The contents of the bill are against the interests of the North and other sub-nation-als, especially the proposed amendment to the distribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) to Derivation-based Model.
“This is because companies remit VAT using location of their headquarters and tax of fice and not where the services and goods are consumed. In view of the foregoing, the Forum unanimously rejects the proposed Tax Amendments and calls on members of National Assembly to oppose any bill that can jeopardise the wellbeing of our people.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Northern Governor’ Forum is not averse to any policies or programmes that will ensure the growth and development of the country.
“However, the Forum calls for equity and farness in the implementation of all national policies and programmes so as to ensure that no geopolitical zone is short-changed or marginalised.”
Reacting to the rejection of the planned amendment of the VAT Act to be based on derivation, the Middle Belt Forum said such reform is necessary for the sake of equity and fairness.
The national publicity secretary of the MBF, Dr Isuwa Dogo, charged the National Assembly to go ahead with the amendment in line with the reality on the ground, coupled with the consumption patterns and capacity of states.
“VAT should be localised; if a group of people, states, or otherwise are not patronising a product or not aligning with the consumption, such people have no right to share in the distribution of VAT.
“In some parts of the North, alcohol is forbidden, and there are several instances where it was openly destroyed
“It would be abnormal for such states to benefit from the sharing of VAT accrued from the consumption of alcohol.
Therefore, it should be on the basis of consumption.
