President Bola Tinubu has affirmed that there is no going back on the tax reforms initiated by his administration.
The tax reform bills: Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill 2024, Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2024, and Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill 2024 currently before the National Assembly had been opposed by northern leaders who contended that if passed into law would negatively affect revenue accruing to northern states:
However, President Tinubu in his maiden media chat held Monday in Lagos said the reforms were pro-poor and meant to widen the tax net
He said the reforms might not be embraced by everybody, but maintained that there was no going back on it.
“The tax reform is here to stay. The reform is pro-poor and it is to widen the tax net, so we can have more people paying.
“The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to do what you have to do at the time it ought to be done. Tax matters are subjects of debates and negotiations. I don’t mind cutting edges. I will.”
The president maintained the reforms introduced by his administration were not intended to inflict pains on Nigerians, but were necessary for growth.
He said he had no regrets about removing the fuel subsidy, which had led to a huge rise in the pump prices of petroleum products and negatively impacted the costs of goods and services.
