Nasarawa Governor Sule Opens Up on Decision to Change Stance on Tax Reforms Bill


Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has opened up on his decision to reverse his stance on the contentious tax reforms bill.

The governor, who was initially opposed to the bill, revealed in a recent appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme that his concerns have been addressed, leading to his change of heart.

According to Governor Sule, his initial opposition to the bill was not a rejection of tax reforms altogether, but rather a response to the bill’s contents in its original form. He emphasized that the primary objective was to ensure that the bill underwent thorough discussion before any decision was made.

“We have achieved our goal, and that is why I am speaking differently today,” Governor Sule explained. “We wanted the bill to be further discussed and not passed in its original form. Now, there are opportunities for further review, and I commend the House of Representatives, particularly the speaker, for their handling of the issue.”

The governor expressed satisfaction with the current handling of the bill by lawmakers, especially the House of Representatives and its speaker. He noted that the concerns raised by him and others led to a more thorough scrutiny of the bill.

Governor Sule had earlier commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tax reforms but insisted that northern governors were only opposed to the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from the federation allocation.

“Let me make it categorically clear, we are not against the tax reforms. There are so many good things about the tax reforms that Mr. President is putting forward. We just selected an item out of the tax reforms. It is the VAT that we are talking about, which would be taken out of the FAAC. That is why we are calling for a review of that position. The moment you take VAT out of FAAC, you are taking 60 percent of that to go to derivation. Other people are introducing consumption.

“For people like us, who once as a managing director of some of the biggest companies, I was the one paying VAT. I was the one paying taxes, and I knew how it was paid. I know where some of these goods are consumed. If you now turn around and say, it’s now at the point of consumption, then I can even educate somebody for a whole day about consumption. Because people don’t even understand the issue of consumption.

“A typical example I can give you from two industries that I have worked as CEO. As MD of African Petroleum, I had a customer from Maiduguri who would order 200 trucks, and he would pay me for 200 trucks. If you say you are going to go by consumption, you are going to charge the VAT of the 200 trucks to Maiduguri. But in reality, at the point of distribution, he would now tell me to bring only 10 trucks to Maiduguri. The rest of that, he is going to start distributing them from Ilorin all the way to Sokoto. This will make it difficult for you to understand consumption. If you say it is at the point of derivation, then all the corporate headquarters that collected for the 200 trucks are in Lagos. Which means I pay in Lagos. Whichever way you pick, you are going into default,” he stated.

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