North not parasitic, governance needs prudence, says Ndume

Former Leader of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has declared that the North is not parasitic in nature, especially concerning economic survival.

Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, noted, yesterday, that all states, zones, and regions in the country would need one another to survive, no matter how rich.
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“The North was, is and will never be a parasite or dependent on any region or even the country. We are assets, not liability to Nigeria. Those, who think that the current tax reforms are only against Northern interest, are naive. As it is, the law is against all the low and middle income Nigerians,” he stressed.

The lawmaker, who was recently removed as the Chief Whip of the Senate on account of his outspokenness on matters adversely affecting the living standards of ordinary Nigerians, called for a demonstration of prudence in governance so that the resources of the country could be harnessed to the benefits of the people.

The ranking Senator, who insisted that the tax reform bills came at the wrong time, said the economic hardship being suffered by Nigerians might get worse.

“I’m still insisting that the Tax Reforms Bills be withdrawn for more consultations and by-in of critical stakeholders like states, local governments and the private sector,” Ndume said.
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He advised that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) should expand its tax net just as he called for greater demonstration of accountability.

“The FIRS should concentrate on expanding the tax net and collecting more. Also, accountability and transparency should be increased,” he stated.

Ndume also called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to beam its searchlight on commercial banks to ensure that banks, which declared huge profits every year should pay more taxes.

He had criticised the timing of the bills, arguing that the focus should be on governance reforms before tax reforms.

“First in Nigeria, what we need to do is reform the government. Our personnel and overhead expenditure for 2024 is about 50 to 60 per cent of the budget itself. We are here in November, and 20 per cent of the budget has not been implemented. But if you check the recurrent expenditure, it has already been exhausted,” he noted.
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