Critics of Tinubu's Tax Reform Bills, including lawmakers, ignorant of its contents - Barau

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, has said the majority of people, including some lawmakers opposing the Tax Reform Bills initiated by President Bola Tinubu, are ignorant of its contents.

He clarified that the controversial bills were speedily passed for a second reading to allow the public to make comments and inputs on them.

In September, President Tinubu transmitted the bills to the National Assembly for passage, but the documents have triggered controversy after some Nigerians claimed the legislation would marginalise some states in the revenue-sharing formula.

The strongest criticisms of the bills have come from the North where governors, traditional and religious leaders, and other groups have rejected the proposals, arguing that they pose a threat to the region’s development and the nation at large.

The Northern critics are particularly concerned that the legislature could heap further economic misery on the region if it sails through at the National Assembly.

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum re-echoed this sentiment in a recent interview on BBC Hausa, lamenting that governors would be handicapped from meeting salary obligations if the bills were passed.

Zulum also expressed concern over the urgency with which the bills have been treated at the National Assembly.

Barau blames criticisms on ignorance

But, the Senate Deputy President who spoke to BBC Hausa on Saturday, November 30, 2024, explained that the speedy passage was to give Nigerians the room to make input on the legislation before considering the next line of action.

“Because of the contents of the bills, we decided to invite experts or the people who developed them on behalf of the President to explain to us the provisions of the bills and also advise us so that Nigerians will know about it.

“The bills have to scale the second reading before they can be taken to the committee for a review. And while we could ask (the committee) questions, Nigerians who might have only watched it on the television could not have room to ask questions. That was why it was resolved that the bills would be passed for the second reading so that Nigerians would have the chance to comment, give their contributions and also ask questions,” he said.

Barau, who has been heavily criticised especially on social media for backing the bills, stated why the bills were not first presented to the committee before passing them for a second reading.

“No, it is not done that way. It has to pass the second reading before it can be taken to the committee. The second reading is done so that the public can have room to pass their comments on it. That is why the bills were presented to the committee now so that they will review, x-ray it and tell us the contents therein.

“The second reading is not the end of the process. No, that is even where the process begins. And it was done in order to enable the public (youth, children, women, clerics and everyone) to comment and register their complaints about it,” he explained.

On whether lawmakers were aware of the hardship the bills could subject Nigerians to, the lawmaker representing Kano North Senatorial District said, “Nobody will do something that will have a negative impact on his people. The issue now is to first know the provisions of the bills. The majority of people don’t even know the contents therein, even some of our lawmakers.

“We have to first have a grasp of the bills before they would be understood, that was why it was sent to the committee for them to review so that we know the situation. We will also invite experts to go through it, but we have not gotten to that level now.”