• Presidency urges govs to engage N’Assembly
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has vowed to mobilise against those supporting the proposed Tax Reform Bills, reaffirming its backing of Sen Mohammed Ali Ndume for his courageous opposition to the controversial legislation.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, has urged governors having issues with the tax reform bills to take their concerns to the National Assembly.
CNG noted its engagement with citizens across the North through town hall meetings to raise awareness about the potential consequences of the bills.
In a statement issued after a courtesy visit to Ndume, CNG National Coordinator, Jamilu Charanchi, commended the senator’s bold stance and pledged the group’s continued backing in opposing the controversial bills.
Charanchi explained that the visit was an opportunity to strategise on effective ways to oppose the reforms.
The coalition warned that lawmakers, who abandon their constituents, would be treated as enemies of the people whose political relevance must be decisively and immediately destroyed and buried.
According to the coordinator, the goal is to empower constituents to reach out to their representatives and demand that they reject the proposed reforms.
“We will continue to utilise all available democratic tools to ensure these bills, which threaten the livelihood of millions, are rejected outright,” he added.
CNG also used the occasion to call on Northern lawmakers to remain true to their constituents and reject the bills, which appear to be ill-timed and serve as a tool to fulfil external demands, such as those from the World Bank.
It regretted that some legislators from the North chickened out while others were scrambling for crumbs from the Presidency to support the unpopular bills.
He added: “We want to categorically warn any lawmaker from the North who supports these oppressive Tax Reform Bills: your betrayal will not go unnoticed. You simply sign to enslave the people who entrusted you with their mandate. CNG will practically lead campaigns against such betrayers who should be eliminated from the political landscape of northern Nigeria.”
BWALA, who spoke, yesterday, on national television, noted that only second-term governors were opposing the bills, while their first-term counterparts had yet to raise any issue regarding the documents.
According to him, discussions about the bills should remain within the National Assembly.
While expressing disappointment over some governors who opposed the bills, Bwala stated that the governors should address their issues with the bills to National Assembly members from their states, rather than making public statements.
Since the unveiling of the tax reform bills, they have generated heated debates across the country, with the majority of the pushback coming from the North.
But according to Bwala, many governors and some leaders from the region contended that the tax reform bills, which also led to open confrontations in both chambers of the National Assembly, were meant to favour Lagos State and narrow interests, as well as to short-change the North.
