Senate Refutes Claims of Suspending Tax Reform Bills Amid Rising Controversy

Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Thursday, maintained that the tax reform bills currently before the upper chamber were very much alive, saying at no time were the proposed legislations suspended by the lawmakers. Bamidele said this in a statement summarising his comments on the floor of the senate, made available to THISDAY.

That was as the senate on Thursday confirmed a first meeting in Abuja between its special committee on the tax reform bills, headed by Minority Leader Abba Moro, and the team from the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.

The red chamber also removed Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, as a member of the ad hoc committee, and asked the senator for Borno Central, Kaka Shehu, to replace him.

As controversy over the tax reform bills continued, Moro expressed concern that the ongoing discussion regarding the proposed tax reform had become increasingly politicised.

Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Moro called for a more focused examination of the proposed legislations.

Senators from the South-south geopolitical zone, also on Thursday, passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, pledging to align with him in advancing the collective interest of the country. They also backed the proposed tax reform bills before the National Assembly.

The South-south senators’ position was contained in a communique at the end of their meeting, signed by Senator Seriake Dickson.

In Lagos, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Mr. Samuel Agbeluyi, urged stakeholders to be fair-minded in their consideration of the proposed tax reform bills in order to present fact-driven recommendations that would enhance the quality and effectiveness of the legislations.

Agbeluyi spoke during CITN’s “Presidential Press Briefing and Media Workshop for Tax and Finance Reporters.”

Bamidele insisted that nobody withdrew deliberation on the tax reform bills, stressing that the bills are executive communications, and only the executive arm can withdraw them.

In the summary of his comments at the National Assembly, Bamidele described the purported suspension or withdrawal of legislative activities on the bills as a “misrepresentation”. He maintained that the upper chamber “cannot be bullied into adopting a certain procedure” not consistent with its rules and proceedings.

Bamidele recalled how the senate on Wednesday constituted a special committee, chaired by Moro, to resolve grey areas of the tax reform initiatives.

The upper chamber, presided by Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jubrin Barau, had on Wednesday set up the special committee to engage the AGF to try to resolve the issues surrounding the tax reform bills.

Bamidele invoked Order 42 of the Senate Rules as well as Section 60 and 62 (1-4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (amended) to clarify the position of the Senate on the Tax Reform Bills, 2024.

He stated that there was no part of the votes and proceedings of the senate where it was stipulated that further consideration of or deliberation on the Tax Reform Bills, 2024 had been suspended or withdrawn.

The senate leader explained that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), through the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, sponsored the bills at the two chambers of the National Assembly. He explained that the bills were not private member bills.

Bamidele stated, “Whatever we are doing is in accordance with the provisions of our constitution. We are the legislative arm of government. We take our instruction and guidance from the 1999 Constitution and not from any other institution or individual no matter how highly placed, not even from the governors or any other person than the 1999 Constitution.

“What was reported is that the senate had suspended further consideration of or deliberation on the Tax Reform Bills 2024. The media platform even invited the Nasarawa State Governor, Mr. Abdullah Sule, pointedly telling the governor that the senate had withdrawn the bills.

“The media platform even described the bills as conundrum, which suggested that the bills were problematic and we do not move from one television to another. The privilege that we have is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This is where we do our deliberation. This is where we make the law. This is where we do effective representation of our people. If we have an issue to clarify, this is also the floor that we have rather than issuing press statements.

“Mr. President, we have just passed our votes and proceedings. It is a reflection of our deliberation of the previous legislative day. Nowhere in our votes and proceedings was it stated that we suspended further deliberation on the Tax Reform Bills 2024. This is because we did not.

“It is important to place on record that this Senate did not suspend and does not intend to suspend deliberations, considerations of the Tax Reform Bills 2024. As to withdrawal, Mr. President, this is simply my position.

“It is a misunderstanding of the legislative process for any person to have even reported that we have withdrawn the bills. The bills were executive bills transmitted by the executive arm of government through the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is only the executive arm that can withdraw these bills. It is not a private member bill sponsored by any senator. So, no senator is going to withdraw the bills and there is no reason for these bills to be withdrawn.”

The senate leader added, “In a legislative process, it is normal that some people will have concerns, that is why in its wisdom, this Senate is referring this matter to the Senate Committee on Finance.”

He also warned that any attempt “to intimidate the parliament will be undemocratic,” stating that the National Assembly and its members would not be distracted from discharging their constitutional mandates.

Bamidele added, “We will encourage consensus, discussion and engagement at all levels. But we cannot be bullied into adopting a certain procedure not consistent with the rules and proceedings of the senate.

“As far as we are concerned, the Tax Reform Bills 2024 are still alive in the senate. The bills are equally receiving consideration at various levels. And we are open to further discussion, consideration and engagement on the bills.”

Bamidele’s comments distancing the upper chamber from an earlier statement by Barau alleging suspension of the tax reform bills elicited confusion in the red chamber.

Barau had while chairing plenary on Wednesday declared that the Senator Sani Musa-led finance panel should halt its six-week legislative assignment on the fiscal legislations until all grey areas were addressed.

But Bamidele countered the declaration, saying at no time was such a decision agreed upon at Wednesday’s plenary.

Bamidele stated, “Our instruction was that they should organise public hearing and submit their report no later than six weeks. It might not be up to six weeks, but if they choose to be up to six weeks, nobody will quarrel with them. Six weeks is long enough in a country that wants progress for a consensus to be reached.

“We are continuing with the deliberation, with the consideration of this bill. We drew out people from each geopolitical zone. And we constituted them into an ad hoc committee to, on our behalf, further interface.

“We were clear about what we were doing. The Senate Committee on Finance is in charge of public hearing. But we set up an ad hoc committee as a further legislative action to, on our behalf, interface.

“Even the president of the country called on us to, please, interface with the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, which also we would have done in our public hearing.”

While stressing that the senate was open to discussions and negotiations, he pointed out that it would be laughable for anybody to think, say or report that the bills were withdrawn.

According to him, “They are executive bills that can only be withdrawn by the executive and there is no reason to do so because these bills we believe are in overriding public interest and will do everything possible to ensure that across geopolitical interests.

“Any political party, religious interest and everybody that has concern, civil society, everybody that has concern, is given a chance to contribute to the passage of these laws.”

In his remarks, Akpabio commended Bamidele for his submission and explained that some sections of the media were misled to report that the senate had withdrawn the bills.

The senate president stated, “At the National Assembly, we were all elected to do our work and that is the work of law-making in the overall interest of Nigeria. We do not do our work through social media. Neither do we do it through any committee or congregation of the church or any forum of any nature.

“We do our work according to our conscience in the best interest of Nigeria. The mechanism of law-making can be further explained to the public.

“The moment the bills went through second reading in the senate, it simply means that the bills are alive. The next procedure is for the committee on finance to commence the process of consultations and public hearings.

“This is with a view to bringing recommendations back to the chamber. In the wisdom of the senate yesterday (Wednesday), we had, in a closed session, set up a committee to be headed by the Minority Leader (Abba Moro) before the passage of the second reading.

“We said, in the event that some people are either uneducated on some aspects of the bill or confused or there are grey areas to be sorted out, they should interface with the necessary executive quarters, from the chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the Attorney General of the Federation, and if need be, even Mr. President.

“That committee was an internal mechanism of the senate, different from the committee on finance. I think that was what was announced yesterday (Wednesday), and we said the committee should immediately move to work.

“There seems to be some grey areas to be sorted out. I want to thank Senator Abba Moro, the chairman of the committee, because as soon as that announcement was made yesterday, he immediately started consultation.

“In fact, he held a meeting today (Thursday) that he has set up to enable him to abstract the process so that the chairman of the Senate committee on finance and members of the committee can commence public hearings either next week or as soon as practicable.

“The bills are alive, they have not been suspended, the actions have not been suspended, the bills have not been withdrawn and the bills have passed second reading in the Senate and further legislative actions are taking place, including the setting up of this ad hoc committee.”

Akpabio advised any state governor not comfortable with any section of the bills to make themselves available for the public hearing.

He said, “So if any state governor in Nigeria, no matter whether the person is a religious leader or a business man that has problems with the bill, you know where to go, to public hearing. The senate will not be bullied. We are doing our work in the interest of Nigerians, and by the time we come up with our final position, it will reflect the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

“Any reform that we can make, painful as a reform may be, so long as this Senate is convinced that it is in the interest of Nigerians, we will go ahead with it. We refuse to break our economy on a forward march in support of the administration.

“We will not also shy away from deleting or abrogating or stopping whatever we feel is not in the public interest. But for the tax reform bill, we believe that there are many provisions there that will definitely help Nigerians.”

Amid the tax reform debate, the senate minority leader expressed worry over the increasing politicisation of the legislation. He called for a more focused examination of the proposed legislation.

In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Moro spoke on the terms of reference for the bills, emphasising the importance of addressing concerns raised by critical stakeholders, including the legal implications of some provisions.

He pointed out that one of the central issues raised was the proposed changes to the Value Added Tax (VAT) distribution model, which critics argued could disproportionately disadvantage some states, especially in the north.

According to Moro, the concern of some people is that the current VAT distribution system, which is based on equity, equality, and population, may not be adequate under the proposed model that shifts the focus to consumption.

“It is assumed that if you introduce derivation in sharing VAT, now, you’re going against the constitution because there is no constitutional provision for that,” he added.

Moro emphasised that one of the issues in the current situation was the excessive hype surrounding the process. He stated that based on social media comments and recent publications, the entire debate had been politicised, trying to create a divide between the north and south.

He stated, “I want to say that it is the politicisation of this bill that is, in the first place, responsible for where we are now. So I don’t want to look at the political side of it.

“I think that by the time further advocacy and sensitisation is carried out, very many people who, out of lack of understanding, apparently may have been kicking against this bill, will come to realise that the bill means well for the entirety of Nigeria.”

Nonetheless, South-south senators passed a confidence vote in Akpabio’s leadership and pledged to support him in advancing the collective interest of the country. They also expressed their full support for all legislations aimed at promoting national development, hailing the landmark tax reform bills and insisting that they would enhance national revenue and foster economic stability.

The South-south senators’ position was contained in a communique they issued at the end of their meeting on Thursday.

Part of the communique read, “We, the Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the South-south geopolitical zone, met on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, to deliberate on key national issues and the role of the senate in advancing the collective interest of the country.

“After extensive discussions, the following resolutions were made: The South-south senators unanimously agreed and passed a vote of confidence in the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to standing by him and supporting his leadership in steering the senate toward its constitutional mandate of making laws that serve the best interests of the nation and its citizens.

“We pledge our full support to the senate president and the leadership of the National Assembly in their efforts to ensure the effective and timely passage of legislation aimed at promoting good governance, national unity, and economic development.

“Recognising the importance of tax reforms in enhancing national revenue and fostering economic stability, we resolved to support the tax reforms bills. This support will be anchored on a comprehensive study and thorough evaluation of the content of the bills to ensure they align with the overall interest of Nigerians, particularly the wellbeing of the South-south region.

“The caucus calls for restraint on the part of those bent on introducing sentiments, whether regional, ethnic or tribal, to a national dialogue and looks forward to robust interactions and consultations as already commenced by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We remain committed to working collaboratively with our colleagues across the senate and all stakeholders in fostering a legislative agenda that guarantees the peace, prosperity, and progress of our beloved nation.”

Meanwhile, Agbeluyi urged stakeholders to look at the tax reform bills dispassionately with a view to presenting fact-driven recommendations to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the proposed laws.

Speaking during CITN’s “Presidential Press Briefing and Media Workshop for Tax and Finance Reporters,” Agbeluyi emphasised the need for constructive input backed by data to strengthen the bills.

The proposed legislations are: Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2024, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill 2024, and Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.

Agbeluyi described the bills as products of the painstaking and exhaustive work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.

He stated, “Those who have expressed concerns about certain aspects of the bills should base their assertions on facts and figures and endeavour to make their suggestions and recommendations on specific provisions of concern for more enriched documents.

“As expected with major tax reforms anywhere, the bills have elicited a lot of concerns and reactions from stakeholders.”

He stated that CITN, which participated at one level or the other in the process of drafting the tax reform bills, had some observations in the bill, which it will present at the public hearing on the bills.

The CITN president said the institute welcomed the great efforts by the government in envisioning and pushing for the tax reforms, stating that they are necessary at this point in Nigeria’s national life.

He said the bills were capable of transforming Nigeria’s tax system by addressing systemic challenges that had bedevilled the country’s tax system and engender an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

He also said the workshop was geared towards building the capacity of journalists charged with reporting on tax and related issues.

“It is in recognition of the important role of the media in information dissemination, especially in times like this, where there are misconceptions about reforms in the taxation landscape in Nigeria.”

According to him, taxation is a critical subject that requires that stakeholders must lend themselves to understanding the intricacies and complexities that characterise it.

“This is why we have put together this workshop to build awareness around critical developments in the tax and fiscal landscape in Nigeria,” Agbeluyi stated.

Chairman of Branding, Publicity, and Publication Committee of CITN, Professor Godwin Oyedokun, said the workshop was a testament to CITN’s commitment to fostering a deeper understanding of taxation and its critical role in national development.

However, the students wing of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) criticised the tax reform bills, warning that it can cripple Nigeria’s educational sector and burden students with unsustainable debt.

Speaking on behalf of the group, its National Coordinator, Hassan Adamu, described the bills as a deliberate attack on critical educational institutions, like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

“This bill will not only dismantle the existing educational support structure but also trap our youth in debt, reflecting the nation’s chronic indebtedness,” Adamu said.

The group also raised concerns about disparities in NELFUND’s implementation across northern Nigeria. According to Adamu, only 96 of the 234 cleared tertiary institutions in the country, in the first phase of disbursement, are from the north.

He said some states, including Zamfara and Sokoto, were particularly underrepresented.

“The exclusion of many northern institutions is alarming and unfair. Students in these areas are already grappling with severe economic challenges,” he stated.

Adamu also criticised the delayed disbursement of loans and inconsistencies in refund policies by some institutions. He claimed these issues had forced some students to withdraw from school or miss exams, exacerbating the dropout rate in the region.

He called on the federal government to halt the tax reform process and engage in broader consultations to address the issues raised.

Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade and Folalumi Alaran and Nume Ekeghe, Dike Onwuamaeze

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