Shortly after President Bola Tinubu was sworn in last year, he set up the Taiwo Oyedele Committee comprising 80 members drawn from all walks of life to look into means of collection and administration of taxes in the country. The six geo-political zones, professional bodies, tax agencies, corporate bodies, among others, were duly represented, including an economics student from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

For about one year, the committee sat, poured through documents, debated, examined all proposals and then made representation to the president who presented their recommendations to the Federal Executive Council. Ratified by the council, the bills generated were then sent to the federal legislature for commencement of the legislative process. By provision of the 1999 constitution, no single arm of government could pass a bill into law. While the executive could generate a bill, it has to receive the endorsement of the federal lawmakers who reserve the right to tinker with it as they may deem fit, and then forward it to the Chief Executive for his assent. Where the assent is withheld, it goes back to the National Assembly that has the right to overturn the veto with two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Given the painstaking mode of operation of the Oyedele committee and the widespread consultation with relevant bodies, it is surprising that the National Economic Council (NEC) has told the president to withdraw the bills because governors were not consulted. It is not only the NEC that rejected the bills, the North, its governors, traditional rulers and the umbrella socio-political group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), also objected to them. Indeed, ACF was the first to turn the bills down and instruct its lawmakers to vote against it.

It is unfortunate that those who have spoken against the bills did not outline what they have against them. The omnibus rejection gives the impression that they did not even study the bills before condemning them. Did they even consider the objectives before coming out with a position? It does not seem so.

The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill that is said to aim at eliminating multiple taxation that the organised private sector has fought against for years; the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill that seeks to improve efficiency by harmonising the administrative processes across the country, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill which seeks to appropriately rename the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill replacing the Joint Tax Board, yet capturing its essence, and then the Office of Tax Ombudsman that is a sort of tribunal to handle all disputations in the course of collection, distribution and use of generated taxes.

There is no doubt that a lot of work went into drafting the bills. As the bills are now before the National Assembly, we wonder where the fears emanated from. The states claim not to have been consulted, where were the members drawn from? Did they make recommendations during the sittings? Why did they wait for the bills to be presented to the legislature before raising their objection?

As the president has rightly responded, the matter is before the National Assembly and the governors, individually or collectively under the aegis of NEC, could make their position known at the committee stage. Besides, to convince the public that its objection is not driven by sheer hysteria without facts as Senator Shehu Sani who was in the Senate in the 8th assembly has said: Which of the bills would affect the North adversely, in their opinion?

Leaders from all parts of the country should carefully weigh their positions on every matter before presenting them to the public as it could further drive a wedge between the various ethnic groups, which is not what Nigeria needs at the moment. The led need to be properly guided if the nation is to make progress.

Again, whoever has objection to any of the bills should prepare to make his position known when they are being considered by the National Assembly. NEC, in particular, should know better. The elaborate tax reform is not targeted at any region or state. It is in the interest of all as the tax-to-GDP ratio in Nigeria is one of the lowest, even in Africa. (The Nation Editorial)

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