The Senate Committee on Finance says it will begin a two-day public hearing on the tax reform bills on February 24.
Sani Musa, the committee’s chairman, spoke about the scheduled hearing on Wednesday.
“We intend to take on two of the bills on each day of the session for the press to be fully abreast with what we intend to do,” the senator said.
“It is our duty as legislators to do the needful for the good of this country. We are all representatives of different tribes, religions, geography and we are Nigerians.
“What we will work towards giving Nigerians are laws that will put us on track economically. And by the grace of God, we will succeed.”
Musa said sufficient funding would propel Nigeria’s economy, including infrastructure, education, and agriculture, to what obtains in developed nations.
He also expressed optimism about the public hearing, citing President Bola Tinubu’s assurances of non-interference in the tax bills processes.
The lawmaker added that the committee has invited Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy; Jumoke Oduwole, the minister of industry, trade and investment; and Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister for justice, to the hearings.
“We have also invited the minister of petroleum resources, the chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service and the statistician-general of the federation so that he will be able to come and give us his own submission,” he said.
Last week, the four bills — the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Tax Administration Bill, the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, and the Nigeria Revenue Service Bill — scaled second reading at the House of Representatives after an extensive debate by lawmakers.
On October 3, Tinubu asked the national assembly to pass the bills, which the senate approved for a second reading in November.
The bills initially faced opposition from the National Economic Council (NEC) and northern governors, who argued that the proposed laws could harm the region’s interests.
They urged the national assembly to reject the bills, demanding fair and equitable implementation across all regions.
However, in January, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) endorsed the bills after agreeing on an “equitable” VAT-sharing formula.
