Some youths drawn from the 19 northern states on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, staged a protest at the entrance of the National Assembly complex in Abuja against critics of the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibril, over his comments on the bill.
Barau had i presided over plenary in November when heads of relevant tax reform experts and government agencies briefed the senators on the merits and methodology of the bills.
That Seemed not to have gone well with some critics but the protesting youths warned them to desist because the Deputy Senate President has neither supported nor objected to the bills.
Barau had urged that the experts, including the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, Taiwo Oyedele, should be allowed to educate the senators and Nigerians on the proposed bills.
The protesters were carrying different placards, bearing various inscriptions, such as: “Stop attacking Senator Barau”; “Senator Barau: The Sardauna of our era”; “Leave Senator Barau alone”, “Senator Barau: The pro-masses lawmaker”; etc.
They posited that since Barau sponsored the North West Development Commission bill, he remains the best Senator in the North.
According to one of the protesters, Comrade Tijjani Kabiru Mohammed, who was once a President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, the Deputy Senate President, has neither supported nor opposed the bills.