Why Governors Demanded Withdrawal Of Tax Bills – Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has justified the reason for calling for the withdrawal of the controversial tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu-led government.

The governor, who was part of those who briefed the media on the position of the National Economic Council (NEC) on the proposed bill, following which he was criticised by a section of the public for opposing the tax reform bill, said Nigerians should learn to focus on the message rather than the messenger.

Makinde made the clarification, at the weekend, during a media chat on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (because), Ibadan.
He asserted that he was not opposed to the tax reform bills, but that the Federal Government needed to engage with a wider array of stakeholders to achieve a meaningful reform.

“At the level of the National Economic Council, we asked the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force a question on the whereabouts of the bill and he said that it was already at the National Assembly. I said if that was the case, why are you just coming here for us to debate and give you the approval as prayed? It amounted to putting the cart before the horse.

“It was an agreement reached unanimously at the NEC meeting. We said, withdraw this bill from the National Assembly and let us have a wider consultation. If people have reservations here and there, it is a national issue and you can seek alignment. And when you align, it may be in the original form, or you may have to tweak it to accommodate whatever the stakeholders are going to say.

“I was asked to be part of the people that would brief the media, and my bit was to explain our decision on why the bill should be withdrawn so that consultation could happen with stakeholders, but some people just focused on the messenger instead of focusing on the message,” he said.