The National Assembly will resume plenary today, with plans to expedite action towards passage of the tax reform bills.
Following its first sitting of 2025 on January 14, both chambers adjourned until January 28, to allow various committees to conclude work on the defence of the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the parliament by President Bola Tinubu on the 18th of December, 2024.
However, the resumption was postponed to February 4, to allow committees sufficient time to complete ongoing engagements with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) on the 2025 budget.
Before the legislative chambers went on their Yuletide recess, the four tax reform bills submitted by President Tinubu on October 13, 2024, had been a key focus, with legislators from the North, alongside northern governors and traditional leaders, calling for their withdrawal due to concerns that they would further impoverish the region.
During the recess, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) met with the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, the promoters of the reforms, and reached a compromise, endorsing the bills with some adjustments.
Among other alterations, the governors proposed allocating 30% of Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue based on derivation, instead of the initially proposed 60%, as part of efforts to address the concerns surrounding the tax reform bills.
They also suggested a revised sharing formula, with 50% of VAT revenue shared equally among states and the remaining 20% based on population, to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.
Initially, one of the tax reform bills had proposed a 60% VAT revenue share based on derivation, meaning states would receive funds proportional to the VAT generated within their territories.
This had led to significant pushback from governors and lawmakers, particularly from the northern region.
Following the compromise, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State stated that the governors would now seek the support of their legislators to ensure the bills’ passage in line with the agreed-upon consensus.
Our reporter learnt from credible sources that various stakeholders including some governors are closely monitoring what would transpire in the National Assembly.
“The communiqué issued by the governors is their position and they look forward to mutual understanding from the legislators,” a source close to one of the governors, said.
Sources close to the leaderships of the Senate and the House of Representatives disclosed yesterday that the bills would be given accelerated hearings as lawmakers resume today.
However, it was gathered that the House of Representatives would likely postpone discussion on the bill until Wednesday, as Tuesday’s session would be dedicated to a valedictory session for its late Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Adewunmi Onanuga, who died on January 15 after a brief illness.
One source revealed that the Senate, which had passed the bill for second reading, would continue to fine-tune the bills in accordance with the agreement reached by the governors.
Earlier, the Senate had forwarded the bills to its committee on finance and mandated it to conduct public hearing within six weeks and revert.
In the House of Representatives, the legislators had suspended indefinitely, the debate on the tax reform bills. The planned debate was called off in a memo signed by the Clark of the House, Dr Yahaya Danzaria as 73 northern lawmakers kicked against the bills.
The lawmakers are aiming to pass the bills as soon as possible, with the target set for completion by the end of March, according to one source.
Earlier, Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, disclosed that the bills are expected to be passed into law in the first quarter of 2025.
Oyedele also mentioned that implementation of the tax reform bills is expected to begin in July.
“I need to talk about the tax reforms. Part of the expectation is that the tax reforms, particularly the tax reform bills, will be approved in 2025. Our expectation is that this will happen before the end of Q1 so we can notify taxpayers to prepare and begin implementation by July 1,” he said in late January. – Daily Trust.
