…Says, govs willings to back reform
By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has responded to allegations made by the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms regarding the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
Appearing on TVC News on Monday’s morning, the governor refuted claims made by the committee’s chairman, Taiwo Oyedele, that governors failed to meet with the committee on the proposed Tax Reform Bill.
Sanwo-Olu clarified that while there was an initial lack of awareness among governors about the Tax Reform Bill, they now have a full understanding of its provisions.
He stated that the accusation of governors avoiding meetings with the committee was inaccurate.
Oyedele, speaking on Arise Television, had defended the committee, alleging that the governors had canceled four scheduled meetings with the panel.
His remarks came in response to criticism that the committee had not adequately consulted with state leaders regarding the tax reforms.
Further fueling the debate, prominent northern politician and elder statesman, Buba Galadima, also weighed in on the issue during the same Arise Television programme.
Galadima suggested that the proposed bills favored only Ogun and Lagos states, arguing that the committee had failed to consult with any governor other than Lagos State’s Sanwo-Olu.
Sanwo-Olu when being asked by the interviewer on the point of view of NGF on tax reform based on allegations levelled against it by the panel’s chairman, said:” that is not really situation of thing, rightly so, we are not fully aware of the extend of the reform but in last couple of months everybody has schooled their selve, everybody has taken time to understand, to digest, to get expert advise on it and I want to tell you clearly now that a lot of governors are now convinced, people have been educated, we seen that it is an opportunity for us to have a lot of revenue and be able to track and trap where defaulters are and bring everybody on board. You will see increase in revenue across the three tiers of government and there will be fairer distribution of it … Initially it heat on all of us but now we have digest and understand it, I believe significant number of us have bought into it . And at the end of the day it will be win, win for everybody.”