The National Economic Council (NEC) has expressed reservations over the Tax Reform Bill forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly.
The bill was forwarded to NASS based on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms set up by the President to help boost revenue generation in the country.
NEC unanimously called for the withdrawal of the bill.
This was part of the resolutions reached during the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, the governors noted the need for sufficient alignment between and amongst the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State who briefed journalists said NEC observed that adequate consultations needed to be made to get the views of stakeholders including the state governors to ensure that the law is favourable to all Nigerians.
The move came days after the influential Northern Governors’ Forum rejected some of the proposals, particularly the VAT-sharing template in one of the bills.
The northern governors reached this resolution after a meeting in Kaduna, demanding equity and fairness.
The governors in attendance were Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Dauda Lawal Dare of Zamfara, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, and Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa. Other governors were represented by their deputy governors.
