State Governors Meet In Abuja

The Secretariat of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum convened on Wednesday in Abuja to discuss issues.

The forum’s first meeting for 2025 took place at this location. &nbsp, Although the agenda of the meeting was not made available to journalists as of press time, the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, and the Minister of Women Affairs, &nbsp, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, attended the meeting with the governors.

A handful of governors including that of Kwara, Lagos, Abia, Ogun and some deputy governors were also in attendance.

At their meeting in January, the governors backed the Federal Government’s tax reform bills but proposed a new sharing formula for value-added tax (VAT).

A revised VAT-sharing arrangement, according to the governors, would ensure an equitable distribution of resources.

According to the NGF, the new sharing formula will be&nbsp, 50% based on equality, 30% based on derivation, and &nbsp, 20% based on population.

According to the communique released by the NGF’s Chairman and Kwara State Governor, “Members agreed that there should be no increase in the VAT rate or reduction of Corporate Income Tax (CIT) at this time” for the sake of maintaining economic stability.

To protect the welfare of the citizens and increase agricultural productivity, “The Forum urged the exemption of essential goods and agricultural products from VAT.”

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), according to the NGF, should not have a terminal clause in the bills’ sharing of development levies.

The governors say they support the “continuation of the legislative process at the National Assembly that will ultimately lead to the passage of the Tax Reform Bills.” Despite the heated debates that the bills have sparked.

President Bola Tinubu requested that the lawmakers take and pass four tax reform bills last year.

The proposal includes the tax administration bill, &nbsp, Nigeria tax bill, and joint revenue board establishment bill.

Tinubu also wants to replace the Nigeria Revenue Service with the law establishing the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

However, the decision has drawn criticism from several regions of the nation, particularly the northern governors and some of Nigeria’s leaders.

They argued that the bills were against the region and demanded that the National Assembly reject them. Some labelled them anti-north.

Source: Channels TV