Nigeria's Tinubu says tax reform plan 'here to stay' amid pushback

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu says he will push ahead with four tax reform bills already submitted to parliament despite facing a backlash from a section of state governors.

The reforms are part of the president's attempt to overhaul the tax regime and generate more revenue in Africa's economic powerhouse.

But a proposal on how to share the Value Added Tax (VAT) between the central government and the 36 states has sparked a row, with a section of federal lawmakers claiming it will whittle down allocations to the northern region.

“Tax reform is here to stay; we cannot just continue to do what we were doing years to years in today’s economy. We cannot retool this economy with the old broken books, and I believe I have that capacity that is why I went into the race,” Tinubu said in his maiden roundtable meeting with journalists aired on Monday night.

'A new term'

Nigeria’s parliament last month began deliberating on the four bills that the president characterised as a new dawn.

“I am focused on what Nigeria needs and what I must do for Nigeria... I am convinced, and you should be convinced,” he said.

The northern political class, particularly federal lawmakers and northern state governors, have either outright rejected the bills or called for broader consultations.

Many in the region argue they favour Nigeria's economic capital Lagos and the Rivers State in the oil-producing Niger delta, where the bulk of the offices of local and foreign companies are located.

Bias accusations

The north has accused Tinubu of bias in favour of Lagos, the city he grew up in and governed between 1999 and 2007.

The government's repeated denial that the reforms are not intended to impoverish the north has not convinced the region.

The president's office early this month dismissed northern claims as "not grounded in facts, reality or sufficient knowledge of the bills".

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