Kehinde Fajobi
The House of Representatives has decided to extend consultations on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposed tax reform bills following over two hours of a closed-door meeting on Thursday.
The President had earlier submitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration.
However, northern leaders and the governors of all 36 states have urged him to withdraw the bills for further discussions and stakeholder engagement.
Despite the calls, the Presidency maintained that the bills should proceed through the legislative process, emphasising that any concerns could be addressed during public hearings.
During Thursday’s plenary session, the House held an executive session lasting more than two hours to deliberate on the tax reform bills.
Although the bills were not initially scheduled for discussion, some members reportedly insisted they be addressed, The Nation reported.
After the session, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the meeting, announced the decision to continue consultations on the bills.
“What we did was to continue our consultation which we promised the House on the tax bills, and the agreement at that session was to continue that conversation,” Kalu said.
“This consultation is going to continue from now till Tuesday when we will hold a special session where we will invite these resource persons to be here in the House to engage us.
“Thereafter, we decide which way to go. This is to make sure that it is well documented that we did our consultation in the form of an executive session, and we are continuing that consultation till next Tuesday.”