Yakubu Dogara urges Northerners to reconsider stands on Tinubu’s tax reform bills

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has called on northerners to adopt a more informed approach regarding President Bola Tinubu’s proposed tax reform bills.

His appeal comes amid widespread criticism from northern leaders and residents who argue that the bills disproportionately affect the region.

The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council have publicly opposed the bills, citing concerns about their impact. However, Dogara, speaking during a Channels Television town hall on Monday, urged critics to reevaluate their stance.

He highlighted that some of the criticisms stem from a lack of understanding of the proposed reforms’ potential benefits, emphasizing that the reforms could address critical issues affecting the entire country.

He said, “I want to talk to my brothers in the North. I don’t think this is the time for us to begin to condemn the president and to begin to say that on account of these bills, he is anti-north because I want to remind us that the president has done something that is significant.

“If he can pursue this to the end, it would be that there is no northern leader of my lifetime that has done what the president has done for the north. And I will tell you [what he has achieved] is the creation of the livestock ministry. There is a global business around that.

“The global market size of dairies of beef in the next three years will rise to about $2.5 trillion. You can Google it. So if in the north, we are able to organise ourselves in such a way that we can corner just 5%, just 5% of this global market size of dairies and beef, I tell you that gives us $250 billion.

“We don’t need VAT from any state in Nigeria to survive. The North can survive on its own. We are the most endowed part of Nigeria.”

Dogara also dismissed concerns over insufficient consultations and timing of the tax reform bills, arguing that what matters is whether the reforms are right, not the political agenda or past discussions.