Tax Reform: Senate Commences Public Hearing On Monday

The Senate Committee Finance on Wednesday announced the commencement of public hearing on the controversial Tax Reform Bills on Monday the 24th of February.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Sanni Musa who made the announcement after a closed door meeting with members of the committee in the Senate said members of the committee have agreed to take on for each day of the public hearing which will end on Tuesday the 25th of February.

Musa said the public hearing is the outcome of the committee’s series of engagement with different stakeholders on the issue surrounding the four Tax Reform Bills.

“Prior to this time, Mr. President had directed that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, the Chairman of Presidential Tax Reform Committee, should engage with the National Assembly and all other stakeholders to make sure that all the grey areas are addressed. I can tell you that we have done the needful. We have had a lot of engagement, even with the Ulamas, with some pressure groups and some professional bodies. So I believe that whatever we are going to do in this National Assembly, we are going to come out with documents that by the grace of God Nigerians will accept,” he said.

He said a number of MDAs have been invited by the committee and every Nigerian is also invited to participate in the public hearing.

“If you have something to submit to us as a Nigerian you can go ahead and submit it. what we want is inclusivity. We are not excluding anyone. I believe that the public hearing is going to go on smoothly, and wherever the grey areas are, Mr. President has said it, times without number, that he’s not going to interfere. It is our duty as legislators to do the needful for the good of this country. We are all representatives of different tribes, religion, geographic history, but we are Nigerians. And what we will work towards giving Nigeria are laws that will put us on track economically.

He said the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of Economy, the Minister of Trade and Investment, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Petroleum, the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Services and Statistician General of Nigeria have all been invited for the public hearing.