A former Presidential spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande, on Sunday urged the Federal Government to do more to get broader support for its proposed Tax Reform Bills.
Akande, a former Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said the government needed to expand political conversations on the bills and engage stakeholders on the benefits of the reform.
NAN reports that the reform aims to streamline tax processes, establish a unified revenue service, and simplify financial obligations for businesses and citizens.
One of the highlights of the reform is tax exemption for low-income earners .
However ,some political stakeholders have expressed opposition to the reform,contending it favours a particular section of the country.
The opponents,mainly Northern politicians, said the proposed reform was anti-North and that it should be jettisoned.
Akande, who noted the need for reformation of tax system for sustainable development in the country, said that the government should hold more political conversations to convince opponents of the reform to see the benefits of the reform
“The most important thing is that if we are serious as a nation, we have to reform our tax system.
“Nigeria is one of the countries with the lowest tax to GDP ratio, and it just shows that we have depended too much on a rentier system where we just collect rents for oil exploration.
“Taxation is the real thing that gives the people the voice in governance.
“It is when people pay taxes out of their hard- earned income that they have a vested interest, and are able to demonstrate a vested interest in the governance of their countries.
“We really have to sit down and have this conversation, and those tax reform bills are moves in the right direction.
“Now there are several issues involved, and what I think is missing is a political strategy that creates a platform for the conversations that are political,” he said.
Akande said that the fears raised by some political stakeholders about the reform would be allayed with more consultations
He added: “So all the questions about revenues, VAT sharing and others are conversations that ought to be had politically.
“So, what you have right now is a technocratic body led by Oyedele, which had done an excellent job, but that body is incompetent to have the political consultation, only the President can do that to remove all obstacles.”
He said that the tax bills were not against any section of the country, but were for the good of the nation.
“These things have to be negotiated. It has to be negotiated. There’s nothing (in the bills) against anybody. But there has to be a negotiation.
“There are even points in the whole reform that it is only political language that can convey its meaning, not technocratic language. So, it is negotiation.
“The people that will do the negotiation are not these technical people. No! Politicians will march in negotiation,” he said.
Responding to advocacy by some groups that the Federal Government should give states right to collect VAT, Akande said the collection would be better and more efficient, if centralised. (NAN)
