Dickson dares those opposing Tinubu’s Tax Bills, says senate will pass the bill
Abuja (Core Reporters) The former two term governor of Bayelsa State and a senator representing Bayelsa West senatorial district at the National assembly has dared those opposing the passing of president Tinubu’s Tax Reforms bills, saying that they will pass the bill and heaven will not fall.
Country Man as Dickson is fondly called by his admirers likened the Tax Reforms bills to the PIA which the late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had pegged the percentage at 10% for the Niger Delta region but, the lawmakers eventually reduced the percentage to 3%.
Recall that President Tinubu had, on October 3, 2024, transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly in a letter read by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and House of Representatives Speaker, Tajuddeen Abbas during separate plenary sessions.
Tinubu stated that the bills aim to bolster Nigeria’s fiscal institutions and align with the government’s development objectives.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Dickson reaffirmed the legislature’s resolve to pass the bills, saying “heaven won’t fall.”
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, he said, “The PIA was passed. We wanted 10% which was what Yar’adua (former president) proposed.
“They (federal lawmakers) reduced it to 3%. Heaven did not fall. This tax reform bills will pass and heavens will not fall.”
Last week, the Senate passed the bills for a second reading, while the House of Representatives has yet to deliberate.
Dickson called on critics of the bills to attend the public hearing with evidence, adding, “The Senate has passed the bills for second reading. Public hearing will take place, and people should get ready to present their positions. The tax bill is a proposed law like every other and it has to go through the normal legislative process.”
Addressing tax disparities, Dickson said, “Right now, taxes from Bayelsa State are paid to Lagos State and I don’t want that to continue.
“When there is consumption of any goods or services from any state, it should be calculated and paid to that state.”
He further explained his support for the reform, stating, “Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws, to correct the anomalies, and that is why I’m in support.
I know there are states that are feeling that when they apply the new sharing formula, they will earn less.
“It’s for them to raise those issues and bring the statistics. I don’t go by sentiments. I go by what is right and in the national interest.”