…Orders Integrity Review Of Nigeria’s Waterways, Dams

…Says 321 Dead In 34 States On Account Of Flooding

…Tinubu Not Against Northerners With Tax Reform Bills — Presidency

The National Economic Council (NEC), on Thursday, prevailed on President Bola Tinubu to with­draw the Tax Reforms Bills from the National Assembly.

NEC hinged it on the need to allow for wider consultations and consensus building among stake­holders, particularly Nigerians.

Oyo State governor, Seyi Ma­kinde, who briefed State House correspondents on the develop­ment, said this formed part of resolutions reached at the 144th meeting of the NECouncil at the State House, Abuja.

According to Makinde, the council members agreed that it was necessary to allow for consen­sus building and understanding of the bills among Nigerians.

President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently endorsed new policy ini­tiatives to streamline Nigeria’s tax administration processes.

The Federal Government hinged it on the need to enhance efficiency and eliminate redun­dancies across the nation’s tax operations.

The reforms emerged after a review of existing tax laws since August 2023. The National Assem­bly is considering four executive bills containing these tax reform efforts.

NEC’s decision came days after the Northern governors kicked against the reform bills.

At a meeting on October 28, 2024, governors of the 19 North­ern states, on the platform of the Northern Governors’ Forum, re­jected the new derivation-based model for Value-Added Tax dis­tribution in the new tax reform bills before the National Assembly.

A communiqué read by the Chairman of the forum, Gov­ernor Muhammed Yahaya of Gombe State, said the proposition negates the interest of the North and other sub-nationals.

Makinde said, “NEC today took a presentation from the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. Their main focus is fair taxation, responsible borrow­ing and sustainable spending.

“The council acknowledged that the country is underperform­ing on all indices as regards huge losses from major revenue sourc­es, also tax to GDP ratio and so on.

“So after extensive delibera­tion, NEC noted the need for suf­ficient alignment between and among the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.

“Council, therefore, recom­mend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people, for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax re­form, because there’s really a lot of miscommunication, misinfor­mation.

“The bills will be drawn from the National Assembly, then there will be consultations afterwards”.

NEC OrdersIntegrity ReviewOf Nigeria’s Waterways, Dams

Meanwhile, the National Eco­nomic Council (NEC) on Thurs­day also directed the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation to commence a comprehensive integrity review of Nigeria’s wa­terways and dams.

The move is intended to miti­gate the ravaging impact of flood­ing in the country.

Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, disclosed this while briefing State House corre­spondents at the Presidential Vil­la, Abuja, after the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

He said that the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, had briefed members of NEC on the Federal Government’s intervention activ­ities across the country regarding the impact of this year’s flooding which has become a major nation­al disaster.

The Water Resources Minis­try had earlier identified 148 local government areas in the country spanning 31 states as high flood risk areas for 2024 beginning from April to November.

According to Prof. Soludo, after receiving the presentation from the minister, NEC resolved that “the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation should conduct an integrity review of all the waterways and dams across the country.

“There was a serious empha­sis on the need for a massive pro­gramme of dredging of the wa­terways. The council also urged governors who have not submit­ted their reports on the situation of flooding and management in their states to do so immediately.

“Council also noted that the Green Climate Fund should have an infrastructure resilient fund component and it was also noted that there are some critical parts of the country that are very mas­sively ravaged by this flooding particularly the South East and the South South that are com­pletely omitted in the ongoing programmes of the construction of dams at least to act as speed bumps along the highways par­ticularly in the River Niger.”

Prof. Soludo also said that the council considered the national emergency and the responses on the damages and the coordination taking place between the states and the Federal Government and outlined further steps that should be taken.

It was gathered that Prof. Utsev during his presentation informed the NEC that a techni­cal sub-committee appointed by President Tinubu October 8, 2024, is ongoing with its assignment and will be putting together an interim report to be presented to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for onward transmission to the president.

NEC also confirmed that 321 persons lost their lives in the flood disaster which has so far ravaged 34 states of the federation.

It also confirmed that 217 local government areas, 1,374,557 per­sons were adversely affected by the flood across Nigeria as at today.

Soludo, who also reeled out the statistics after the NEC meeting, said the various State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) have been directed to up their game to bring succour to the af­fected states.

“You know the country is facing the national emergency with regards to flooding and the reports so far identify a major na­tional disaster. We’ve been called upon to note that to date, that about 34 states have been affect­ed, 217 local government areas, 1,374,557 persons already affect­ed. And 740,743 were displaced nationwide. 321 persons dead and 2,854 persons injured and 281,000 houses, 258,000 cultivated farm­lands also destroyed, or affected by the ravaging flood.

“Council deliberated on the actions, particularly at the sub national level, and got up on the the SEMA, the various state emer­gency management agencies, to up their game and increase the collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agen­cy (NEMA).

“There was serious emphasis and the need for massive pro­gramme of dredging, or desilt­ing of the waterways and have a firm programme of continuous desilting

almost on annual basis of the waterways.”

Tinubu Not Against Northerners With Tax Reform Bills — Presidency

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has de­fended the proposed bills from the presidency seeking reforms in tax collection processes.

Recall that the Federal Ex­ecutive Council (FEC), which President Tinubu presided over recently, had endorsed new policy initiatives aimed at streamlining Nigeria’s tax administration pro­cesses, enhancing efficiency and eliminating redundancies across the nation’s tax operations.

But the governors of the 19 Northern states, on the platform of the Northern Governors’ Fo­rum, at their meeting recently, picked holes in the new deriva­tion-based model for Value-Added Tax (VAT) distribution in the new tax reform bills before the Nation­al Assembly.

Chairman of the forum, Gov­ernor Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, presided over the meeting where the northern elite opposed the policy.

Onanuga, while reacting on be­half of the president, explained that these reforms emerged after an extensive review of existing tax laws.

He noted that the National Assembly is considering four executive bills designed to trans­form and modernise Nigeria’s tax landscape.

“First is the Nigeria Tax Bill, which aims to eliminate unin­tended multiple taxation and make Nigeria’s economy more competitive by simplifying tax obligations for businesses and individuals nationwide.

“The Nigeria Tax Adminis­tration Bill (NTAB) proposes new rules governing the administra­tion of all taxes in the country. Its objective is to harmonise tax ad­ministrative processes across fed­eral, state and local jurisdictions for ease of compliance for taxpay­ers in all parts of the country.

“The Nigeria Revenue Ser­vice (Establishment) Bill seeks to rename the Federal Inland Reve­nue Service (FIRS) as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to better reflect the mandate of the service as the revenue agency for the en­tire federation, not just the Federal Government,” Onanuga stated.

He explained that the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill proposes the creation of a Joint Revenue Board to replace the Joint Tax Board, covering fed­eral and all states’ tax authorities.

According to him, the bill also suggests establishing the Office of Tax Ombudsman under the Joint Revenue Board, which would serve as a complaint resolution body for taxpayers.

He reiterated that it was in­structive to note that these pro­posed laws will not increase the number of taxes currently in op­eration. Instead, they are designed to optimise and simplify existing tax frameworks.

He also insisted that the tax rates or percentages will remain the same under these reforms, as they focus on ensuring a more equitable distribution of tax ob­ligations without adding to the burden on Nigerians.

The presidential media aide stated, “The reforms will not lead to job losses. On the contrary, they are structured to stimulate new avenues for job creation by sup­porting a dynamic, growth-ori­ented economy.

“Importantly, these laws will not absorb or eliminate the duties of any existing department, agen­cy, or ministry. Instead, they aim to harmonise revenue collection and administration across the fed­eration to ensure efficiency and cooperation.

“At the moment, tax adminis­tration lacks coordination among federal, state, and local tax author­ities, often resulting in overlap­ping responsibilities, confusion, and inefficiency. Without reform, this inefficiency will persist.

“The proposed laws aim to co­ordinate efforts between different tiers of government, resulting in better tax resource management and greater clarity for taxpayers.

“Under existing laws, taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT), Personal Income Tax (PIT), Cap­ital Gains Tax (CGT), Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT), Tertiary Edu­cation Tax (TET), Value-Added Tax (VAT), and other taxing pro­visions in numerous laws are administered separately, with individual legislative frameworks.

“The proposed reforms seek to consolidate these multiple taxes, integrating CIT, PIT, CGT, VAT, PPT, and excise duties into a uni­fied structure to reduce adminis­trative fragmentation.

“On the proposed deriva­tion-based VAT distribution model, which the Northern governors op­pose, it must be stressed that the new proposal, as enunciated in the bill, is designed to create a fairer system.

“The current model for distrib­uting VAT is based on where the tax is remitted rather than where goods and services are supplied or consumed. The ongoing tax re­form seeks to correct the inherent inequity in the current derivation model as a basis for distributing VAT revenue.

“The new proposal before the National Assembly outlines a dif­ferent form of derivation which considers the place of supply or consumption for relevant goods and services. This means that states in the Northern region that produce the food we eat should not lose out just because their prod­ucts are VAT-exempt or consumed in other states.

“These reforms are critical to improving the lives of Nigeri­ans and were not put forward by President Tinubu to undermine any part of the country. There is no better time than now for the National Assembly to give due consideration to these bills that will overhaul our tax systems and create the revenue all the tiers of government require to fund the development our country and people urgently need”.