Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has stated how six governors cancelled meetings with them four times....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Oyedele was reacting to claims that the panel did not consult with Nigerian governors after the introduction of the tax reform bills sparked controversy, most notably in the north.
Northern politician Buba Galadima alleged that governors were not consulted by the tax committee, adding that Oyedele and the others only met with the Lagos governor.
During an appearance on Arise TV on Sunday, Oyedele countered Galadima’s claims, disclosing that the governors cancelled four scheduled meetings.
“We have more than 20 government institutions represented. We have the private sector, whether it’s manufacturers, whether it’s women in business. We have 45 students from 22 universities across Nigeria.
“In addition to that, we had extensive engagement with the governors. I went to the governors’ forum. We wrote and wanted to meet with six governors, one from each of the six geopolitical zones. Up until this moment, it’s only the governor of Lagos state we were able to see.
“The other governor who was willing to welcome us was the governor of Kaduna state. And after all the logistics, we agreed on the date, on that day he wasn’t able to attend.
“It was the deputy governor that hosted us. I will not name the other governors, but I can actually if I need to. They didn’t have time for us.
“The governors’ forum themselves invited us four times and cancelled four times. The fifth time, we were kept waiting until 1:30 a.m., in the middle of the night. By the time they had time for us, they said we had 15 minutes.
“And I said, Your Excellencies, we have a lot to talk about. They said, tell us how our revenues will go up. Even that, we couldn’t say in 15 minutes. We had a half-day engagement with the finance commissioners from across Nigeria. We’ve had more than four engagements with the heads of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from all over Nigeria.
“We’ve had engagements with different groups, more than 40 sectors, from manufacturers to SMEs to FinTech. And these things were published.” ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Be the first to comment