- The Senate will begin a public hearing on the tax reform bills on Monday, February 24
- It said relevant heads of agencies have been invited to the public hearing
- The Senate said the tax reform bills aim to enhance Nigeria’s tax administration
The Senate Committee on Finance says it will commence a two-day public hearing on the tax reform bills on Monday, February 24.
The public hearing of the bills follows the passage of the bills for a second reading by both chambers of the National Assembly.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, disclosed this after a closed-door session with his panel members on the matter on Wednesday, February 19.
Senator Musa added that the committee intends to hear two of the bills, which were submitted by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024, each day
He said, “We have all agreed that we are starting the public hearing on February 24 and 25. We intend to take on two of the bills each day. The Senate Committee on Finance is going to invite the general public, particularly some organisations, to a two-day public hearing on the tax reform bills.
“One of them is the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Fund Bill, the Nigerian Revenue Services Bill, the Nigerian Tax Administration Bill, and the Nigerian Tax Bills.”
Bills to enhance Nigeria’s tax administration
The Senate committee chairman further stated that the tax reform bills are aimed at reforming tax administration, collection, and operations of taxes in Nigeria.
He said providing a contemporary framework for tax administration will ensure the generation of enough funds for investment in critical sectors of the economy.
“The main purpose of this is to see how the government will generate more revenues so that we’ll be able to put our country on the pedestal of advanced economies where infrastructure, education, agricultural sectors, and virtually every sector that revolves around the ecosystem of the economy will be adequately taken care of with enough funds.
“We want to align ourselves with Mr President. Looking at the bills, we have studied it very well as a committee. We have had an engagement with a lot of stakeholders before arriving at where we are today, and I believe that the public hearing is going to go on smoothly.
“Whatever the grey areas are, Mr President has said it times without number that he is not going to interfere. It is our duty as legislators to do the needful for the good of this country. We are all representatives of different tribes, religions, and geographic histories, but we are Nigerians,” Senator Musa noted.
Relevant agency heads invited to public hearing
Musa added that the committee had invited many heads of agencies including the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy and the Minister of Trade and Investment, to explain the practicality and reality of the bills to Nigerians.
The Senate committee chair said the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Petroleum, the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Services (NBS), and the Statistician General of Nigeria, who heads the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), were also invited.
He said, “We need their submissions because we need to know how, generally what is happening in the economy, not just reading or getting it from the news. We need to know what is happening practically out there.
“We are more advanced than any other economy in Africa, and we should be able to do things that will give us that stride. What we have done, even before the public hearing, was that every member you have seen here went through the tax bills, and we are also communicating with our constituents.
“We did this so that at the end of the day, we will give Nigerians, the desired legislation that will take care of our revenue and tax administration in the country.”
Senate passes tax reform bills for second reading
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Senate passed for a second reading the tax reform bills forwarded to it by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024.
The bills were passed on Thursday, November 28, following a debate among the lawmakers. They were then referred to the Committee on Finance for further legislative action and asked to report back within six weeks.
