Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bills, Ploy To Colonize The North – Kwankwaso

The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said that the proposed tax reform bills currently before the National Assembly is a ploy by some “entities” in Lagos State to cheat and dominate northern Nigeria.

This was as he said that there are conscious and deliberate efforts by some people in government to make the poor poorer and the rich richer, saying that the development is dangerous for the country.

Kwankwaso, a two term former governor of Kano State, also said that there is a lot of effort from the Lagos axis to colonise the northern part of the country, stressing that the same Lagos entities installed and imposed their emir in Kano, a state in the northern part of the country at this difficult time.

He said; “Today, we can see very clearly that there is a lot of effort from the Lagos axis to colonise this part of the country. Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose our Emir. Lagos has to come to the centre of Kano to put their own Emir. The Emir has just been installed.

“Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.

“Today, Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose our Emir. Lagos has to come to the centre of Kano to put their own Emir. Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.

“This part of the country today is suffering from a serious economic crunch, insecurity, poverty, hunger, and diseases. I believe this is not good for the cordial existence of our country,” he said.

Kwankwaso therefore called on the members of the National Assembly to keep their eyes open so that they don’t do anything that will cheat the people of northern Nigeria, especially Kano.

He further said; “We are witnesses to what happened during the first term of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003, where our members of the National Assembly were bribed into collecting a huge sum of money to support onshore/offshore in the country. That law put a huge blow on our economy in northern Nigeria and all other states”.

Apart from Kwankwaso, the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), also rose from a crucial meeting on October 28, 2024 and declared its opposition to the Bill, stressing that the proposed legislation would harm the region’s interests.

The NSGF therefore asked the National Assembly to reject the bills just as they demanded an equitable and fair implementation of national policies and programmes across all regions.

In the same vein, the National Economic Council (NEC), had also urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withdraw the bills and allow for consultations, but the president turned down the request saying that the National Assembly should be allowed to take a look at the bills which are designed to improve the lives of Nigerians and optimise existing tax frameworks.