Former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that Northern leaders are not completely against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?s Tax Reform Bills, that they simply want wider consultations as they believe the general public was not carried along when the bills were first presented.

The former education minister said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, while also saying that Nigeria should create a powerful contact that will reach out to Niger in order to clear up the allegations of Nigerian colluding with France to destabilise Niger.

Speaking on the tax reform bills, Shekarau said, ?Regarding the reform, I think it?s a very welcome development. When you come with new ideas that, of course, is expected. And then, looking into the various sectors that will improve the wellbeing of our citizens, the improvement of the economy, and so on and so forth, it?s a very welcome development. The area of concern to a number of us is the inclusiveness in the process in all of these reforms. Reforms are nothing new in any nation, in any community, and that is being expected. You need to look into what is on ground when you come on board and see how you can improve it. Even if you are staying for one year or one day, don?t leave the state the way you met it, you have to make progress.?

As the chair of the League of Northern Democrats, Shekarau explained that the group did not outright reject the reforms. He said, ?What we have done in the league is not just to jump and condemn and throw the whole thing overboard that we?re not accepting. We set up a technical committee, and the technical committee comprises experts in various fields that is to do with the economy ? the finances and tax issues.

?The committee has come up with its report, and just a few weeks ago, specifically on the 19th of December, we made a public presentation of our technical report. We are not rejecting the entirety of the bill ? you know there are four bills. We identified each of the bills, and we agreed with most of the reforms. There are a few areas where we said need to be reviewed. Some of the bills ? the first one, the second one, we have no problem with them, in fact, we said it should be passed.

?The third one, that is to do with the new concept of the leadership of the revenue services, the one you have before the Federal Inland Revenue Services, where the government is recommending the Chairman of the board should also be the Chief Executive, if I may cite this as an example, we said this is not going to give us the accountability and transparency required. Let there be Chairman of the Board, independent of the Chief Executive of the board. Because the Chairman, who of course will be an expert, will be a very experienced person, will be overseeing the activities of the board. The Chief Executive of the board will be the one that will be running the board, or maybe the affairs of the agency and day-to-day basis, and he can serve as the secretary of the board.

?So, these are little things that mostly are administrative matters that we are looking into, and we even went to the extent of looking into what the sharing formula is at the moment, comparing it with what Is being proposed. In the next couple of days, we are going to release to the public our findings. In fact, we are already writing to Mr President, we are forwarding our own observation to the vice president, to the senate, to the house of reps, and even to the committee.?

He further said that the league had invited Taiwo Oyedele, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax reforms, and discussed their findings with him.

Shekarau also mentioned that his league had raised concerns about the lack of public consultation, noting that even governors had voiced their objections.

He said, ?We are not saying entirely we are throwing away the entire reform brought by Mr President, but we are looking into all of the segments, and one major thing that we have identified was that the general public was not carried along. If governors will be complaining, then that means that there wasn?t enough consultation in the process of the presentation.?

?All we?re saying is that let the president allow open discussion and wider consultation. And I?m sure the National Assembly is likely to do the same. The members of the National Assembly, the same with the House of Reps, I understand they?re going to consult widely with their constituents before they even call for their public hearing,? he added.

Shekarau then addressed the recent allegations from Niger, accusing Nigeria of colluding with France to destabilise their country, stressing the need for Nigeria to handle the issue with care.

He said, ?It?s a very serious challenge to the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If you like, we cannot disown these neighbours, whether they are in ECOWAS, whether they are not in ECOWAS, whatever grouping they belong to, they will remain our neighbours and we will need their understanding. We have to play the big brother role.

?My take is that this accusation coming from the President of Niger should not be just thrown away by the wave of the hand. And I think there has to be a lot of diplomatic process in the approach. I think it?s beyond just mere press briefing by any minister, be it either foreign minister or information minister. The government should quietly set up a very powerful contact team that will reach out to the leadership in Niger and have a closed door discussion. Before we even come out, let?s discuss. What informed this? What details do you have?

?I think it?s not right to just throw it away like that, that it?s not true, it?s not fair. Coming from the mouth of the number one person in Niger, I think we must treat it with great care. It?s not necessarily about whether it is true or not true. My expectation is that the President of Niger must have some information that probably, if you go close and discuss diplomatically under close dose, you?re likely to get some more details.

?This does not mean there wouldn?t be any friction initially, and I think before the government comes out and starts denying and then the public making various comments, I expect the government should quietly reach out to Niger. We cannot afford to have open disagreement with our neighbours as close as Niger, especially when it comes to the issue of security.? (AriseNews TV: Text, Excluding Headline)

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