A Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, has said that the tax reform bills sent to the legislative arm of government by President Bola Tinubu are dead on arrival.
Ndume, on Channels TV’s programme, Politics Today, on Tuesday, urged Tinubu to consider the advice of the National Economic Council, and the Northern Governors’ Forum.
Calling for the immediate withdraw of the controversial bills, Ndume added that the Tinubu’s government should be looking at ways to reduce the tax burden on Nigerians and not increase it.
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He said: “If it goes on like that, I can tell you that it will be dead on arrival. We don’t need to study the bill.
“The general thing is that Nigerians are not willing to talk about or pay any tax now considering the (economic) situation we are in now.
READ MORE: Controversial Tax Bill: Lawyer Backs Tinubu, Says Northern Region Can’t Reap Where It Didn’t Sow
“Nigerians are willing to pay taxes but they can only pay taxes when they can afford it. Right now, people are struggling to survive. Let people live first before you start asking them for taxes.”
“What he (Tinubu) needs to do is to withdraw the bill, educate Nigerians and make us understand it. We are representing the people and the people that we are representing have already spoken.
“The governors, the traditional rulers have said that the bill is not good. So, the best thing to do is to immediately withdraw it.
“Right now, what our people are saying is that they don’t want VAT bill, they don’t even want to hear about it. That is why we are going to make it dead on arrival.”
