Elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Clark, has said that the only solution to the ongoing debates on the Tax Reform Bills of President Bola Tinubu, is the restructuring of the country.
Clark said the arguments made for and against the reforms will be addressed once the country was restructured and a new constitution was produced, or the 1963 Republican Constitution was adopted.
The former National Commissioner for Information made the assertion in a statement on the current debate on the reform bills, on Wednesday.
“Mr. President, the ongoing controversies around this tax reform, to me, highlights the need for a full and comprehensive constitutional review of the country’s fiscal federalism.
“In addition, there is need for political consensus building to foster dialogue among political stakeholders to ensure that tax reforms have broad-based support and are sustainable across political transitions.
“If we must live together as one country, Restructuring is a sine qua non. The issues raised for and against the tax bill, are all among issues which will be addressed if we restructure the country and produce a new constitution, or adopt the 1963 Republican Constitution. Giving priority to restructuring will give room for the overhauling of the tax system of the country.
“It is lack of restructuring that has led us to the quagmire we are today as a people; that is why we are here today. This brings to mind my usual slogan, that ‘except we restructure Nigeria, non-restructuring will kill Nigeria’, the statement partly read
Clark explained that the complexity of the Nigerian tax system arose “from the interplay between constitutional mandates, legislative provisions, and the practicalities of revenue collection and allocation.”
He added that the design of the country’s tax system must prioritize incentives for collection and central remittance rather than emphasizing the fairness of revenue sharing.
“A focus on equitable sharing, without improving collection creates perverse incentives – states can only share what is collected.
“Therefore, to boost overall tax revenue, emphasis must focus on improving the collection and remittance processes to ensure a social contract between the corporate and natural individuals for whom they are responsible. Sub-sovereign capacities to collect taxes must be enhanced.”, he said.
The elder statesman also noted that tax reform had always been an issue if contention, adding that despite how much time had passed, the country was yet to get its fiscal policies right, while blaming successive leaders for failing to manage the country’s diversity.
“The leaders of this country have stoutly refused to manage our diversity as a people, and use our diversity as a gain. Rather, they have instituted themselves as institutions, rather than ensuring that the nation’s systems are strong and are the grand norm of the country,” he added.