The House of Representatives was on Tuesday thrown into a rowdy session after Hon. Akin Rotimi, spokesperson of the House mentioned the tax reform bills during plenary.

Hon. Rotimi had risen to move a motion for the consideration of two reports on behalf of Hon. Boma Goodhead, a lawmaker from Rivers state, who was absent at plenary.

The report was on a bill for an act to repeal the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act 2010 and enact the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act. His words: “My name is Akin Rotimi Jr. I represent the people of Ekiti North, comprising Ikole and Oye local governments. Mr Speaker, I am from Ekiti state, the first state, whose national assembly caucus, has unanimously endorsed the tax bills”, he said, which instantly triggered bedlam in the chamber.

Hon. Rotimi, who was still speaking when he was boisterously interrupted by his colleagues. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker who presided over the session, attempted to restore calm, explaining that Hon. Rotimi was expressing his opinion.

“He was just talking on a lighter note. Let us not take it seriously”, the Speaker said. But the lawmakers remained un-appeased, repeatedly shouting and echoing: “No, no, no”.

This forced Hon. Rotimi to apologise and withdraw his comment on the tax reform bills. He said: “Mr Speaker, I withdraw the introduction. I will introduce myself properly. Mr Speaker, can I speak? Colleagues, I would like to withdraw that introduction and restrict myself to the Order Paper”, Hon. Rotimi said.

The speaker responded, advising Rotimi on issues relevant to the subject matter. “Mr Rotimi, you know this is a controversial issue. I don’t want you to be mentioning things that are not relevant to the subject matter. On your behalf, I withdraw that statement that you have made”, Hon. Abbas said.

Hon. Rotimi reintroduced the report, but it was not seconded as lawmakers continued to protest, prompting him to withdraw it.

On October 3, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 3 October 2024 asked the national assembly to consider and pass four tax reform bills.

The bills — the Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill — have been a subject of controversy since then.

On 28 October 2024, the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) opposed the bills, saying the proposed legislation would harm the region’s interests.

The governors asked the national assembly to reject the bills, demanding equitable and fair implementation of national policies and programmes across all regions.

The National Economic Council (NEC) presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, also advised President Tinubu to withdraw the bills to give room for consultations.

But on 1 November 2024, President Tinubu said the bills would not be withdrawn from the national assembly, noting that the proposed laws were designed to improve the lives of Nigerians and optimise existing tax frameworks.

The bills passed a second reading at the Senate on Thursday.

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,” he said.

“I want to remind us that the president has done something that is significant and if he can pursue this to the end, it will be that there is no northern leader of my lifetime that has done what the president has done for the north.”

Hon. Dogara advised that they view the reforms as an opportunity rather than a disadvantage, particularly the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development.

He highlighted the ministry’s potential to unlock vast economic opportunities for the region, adding that the north can survive on its own without value-added tax (VAT).

“The creation of the livestock ministry is the global business around that; the global market size of dairies, of beef. In the next three years, we will rise to about $2.5 trillion,” Dogara said.

“So if in the north, we are able to organise ourselves in such a way that we can honour just 5 per cent of this global market size of diaries 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 and don’t joke about it.

“If you are in doubt, find out from Australia how much they are raking from just mining minerals. There’s gold everywhere in the north. We have all the resources. We can survive.”

R