Strong indications have emerged that the 36 state governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, are sharply divided over the Tax Reforms Bills pending before the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration as forwarded by President Bola Tinubu.

Recall that the governors have, for weeks, been confronted with the tax reform bills, just as the bills have been engulfed in controversy” criticisms and stiff opposition from many quarters.

The Northern 19 governors had also rejected sections of the bills as they called for its withdrawal from the National Assembly to allow for further consultations.

The National Economic Council, NEC, chaired by the Vice President and composed of the 36 governors and some ministers, had earlier rejected the bills.

It was clear on Wednesday night when the governors had an unusual very short meeting that lasted one hour as they rushed out of the meeting without a communique and refused to address the waiting journalists at the entrance of venue of the meeting that all did not go well.

The governors after about one hour of the meeting at Lake Chad Crescent, the Secretariat of the NGF, came out with sealed lips without the usual smiles and exchange of banters, except that some walked together in line with states of origin.

The meeting started at 10p.m. and ended at 11p.m.

Journalists had expected either a release of a communique or to be addressed by the Chairman of NGF and Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who would have been flanked by the Chairman of Progressives Governors, Senator Hope Uzodimma or in the alternative, Chairman of NGF, Alhaji Abdulateef Shittu.

At the end of the day, the waiting journalists left the place at about 11p.m., as nobody had addressed them.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the governors who attended the meeting could not reach an official agreement on the controversial tax reform bills.

It was learned that the failure to agree was the reason the NGF could not produce a communique after the meeting.

The first indication that the meeting would be a deadlock was when some of the governors did not come to the venue at 10 p.m., even when the meetings were held at Asokoro.

There were reports at to 9p.m that the meeting would not hold because it may lead to an exchange of words because of differences with regard to the tax bills.

It became clear that the meeting would hold when two governors arrived, followed by a bus with the inscription, Imo Liaison office, Abuja that brought the Chairman of Progressives Governors and Imo State Governor, Uzodimma, alongside some of his colleagues from the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Vanguard gathered that the APC governors came in a group because they had earlier met with the Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, just as they were said to have been summoned by President Tinubu as they rushed to the villa for the meeting. It was, thereafter, that they came for the short meeting.

Present at the meeting were 15 governors mostly of the APC, Governors Alex Otti of Abia State and Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, governor of Plateau State of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, among others were also in attendance.

Vanguard also gathered that the governors towed their regional positions on the bill.

Recall that on October 3, 2024, President Tinubu transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration, following the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms headed by Taiwo Oyedele for the review of existing tax laws.

The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which is expected to provide the fiscal framework for taxation in the country, and the Tax Administration Bill, which would provide a clear and concise legal framework for all taxes in the country and reduce disputes.

Others were the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, which will repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and establish the Nigeria Revenue Service, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, which will create a tax tribunal and a tax ombudsman.

This came as Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, yesterday, announced the constitution of a committee to study the tax reform bills and make appropriate recommendations to the Federal Government.

In a statement, Tukur Muhammad-Baba, spokesperson of ACF, said the current debates suggest that there were not enough consultations in preparing the bills.

He called on all concerned stakeholders to cooperate with the relevant senate committee charged with the assignment to review the content of the bills.

Muhammad-Baba said opposing views against the bills were essential inputs into the policy process, adding that decorum and mutual respect should be honoured in the discussions of provisions of the proposed laws. (Vanguard)