ABUJA – In a dramatic turn of events on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday, the Northern Senators Forum (NSF) officially withdrew its support for the controversial National Tax Reform Bill, throwing the Tinubu administration’s flagship economic policy into serious jeopardy.
The bill, which seeks to harmonize Value Added Tax (VAT) collection and create a new revenue-sharing model, has been fiercely opposed by 19 northern governors for the past month. The Senators’ decision follows a closed-door emergency meeting that lasted over four hours.
Addressing journalists at the National Assembly complex, the Chairman of the NSF, Senator Ahmed Kaita (Katsina North), argued that the proposed legislation creates a “dangerous economic fault line” between the North and the South.
“We have conducted a thorough analysis of this bill with our state governors and traditional rulers. The current template shortens the North. It penalizes agriculture-dependent states while rewarding states with ports and high corporate density,” Senator Kaita said.
“Until the Presidency agrees to a zonal renegotiation of the derivation principle from the current 10% to a fairer 30%, we will not allow this bill to see the light of day,” he added.
Executive moves to quell rebellion
The Presidency responded swiftly, with the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Mr. Olumide Soyinka, rushing to the National Assembly to hold a last-minute parley with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
“We are in the season of difficult reforms. The President is open to input, but we will not abandon a policy that frees up fiscal space for sub-nationals,” Soyinka told State House correspondents.
However, political analysts warn that the standoff has exposed a deep ethnic rift within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Political science professor Tunde Odetola from the University of Ibadan noted: “This is not about tax. It is about the 2027 realignment. The North feels it is losing its demographic leverage to economic muscle from the South-West and South-South.”
Reactions
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has seized on the chaos. Its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, released a statement calling the infighting a “vote of no confidence in the President’s economic management team.”
Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for nationwide protests by Monday if the bill is not withdrawn entirely, raising tension across Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina states, where armed police were seen deploying to strategic locations yesterday evening.
Details later…
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