There is no gulf between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and North’s governors over the Tax Reform Bills, Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule said yesterday.
He dismissed insinuations that northern governors are fighting the President because of the tax reforms initiated by his administration.
Sule made the clarification when he hosted a coalition of denominations under the umbrella of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The coalition was on a thank-you visit to the Nasarawa Government House in Lafia.
The governor said it is only in a country like Nigeria where people who fought against the coming of President Tinubu could turn round and claim to love him more than those who stood for him and brought him to office.
He noted that some vested interests have being misconstruing the governors’ collective stand on the need for more consultations on the Tax Reform Bills, particularly regarding the aspects of Value Added Tax (VAT) pending before the National Assembly, to mean that the governors in the North are fighting the President.
The governor said contrary to such a view, governors like him have everything to appreciate President Tinubu for making governance easier and more beneficial for them.
He said: “I am happy that you are following up on the Tax Reforms Bills because you called for more sensitisation. That is all we ask for. That is all the grammar that you hear back and forth. It is not that any governor has anything personal against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We love our President.
“It is because of the President that today all the projects we are executing, I am not borrowing one naira. All the work that you see going on, I did not borrow one naira. I cannot, therefore, turn round and fight the President who has helped me to look good.”
Sule insisted that the grey areas about the tax Bills should be explained for better understanding.
He said: “Just like I have never been a teacher, I have never been a legislator. Because of that, we call for the withdrawal of the Bills to look at it again.
“They said it’s a wrong language. You can actually make amendments to the Bills without necessarily withdrawing it. I said that is what I am looking for. I am not looking for any trouble.”
Expressing his stand on the proposed change to VAT, Sule expressed confidence that he knows a lot more than most of those arguing in favour of the tax reforms, considering his background from the organised private sector.
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He said: “The aspect of VAT: I understand more than most of them. I didn’t even know how VAT was being utilised. I only knew how VAT was generated.
“As a CEO of some of the companies, we collected by invoicing customers at the time VAT was five per cent, collecting it from the customers and remitting to the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS).
“That was my work. Who was using it, how it was distributed, I didn’t even know until I became a governor. That was when I knew that we could collect VAT, and it would help the state towards capital projects.
“When I talk about VAT, I talk with authority because I know what it is. I know how it is generated. I know how much it is. Today, it’s VAT that is making every state shine because the amount of VAT at 7.5 per cent is what is making every state comfortable.
“Nasarawa State, since they started this, we have not received less than N4 billion from VAT alone monthly. We are rightly apprehensive that all these projects we have, and now they are saying they will remove VAT from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). I had to raise my hand because I have sworn by the Qur’an to defend the people. I can’t keep quiet.”
Sule described as unfortunate attempts by some vested interests to twist the issues by saying northern governors were fighting President Tinubu.
“For some people making noise and saying the northern governors are fighting the President, nobody is fighting the President. How could you fight a President who has made you look good? This is the truth. All we are saying is that some aspects of the Bills need to be looked into,” he added.