A group, the Western Region Organisation (WRO) has urged President Bola Tinubu not to give in to blackmail and harassment over his efforts to reform tax administration in Nigeria.

The WRO, a global movement advocating for a return to regional government in Nigeria, made this plea in response to the controversies surrounding Mr Tinubu’s tax reform Bills before the National Assembly.

The group’s executive director, Banji Ayiloge, stated on Thursday in Lagos that the National Assembly should revert the authority to collect Value-Added Taxes (VAT) exclusively to states to accelerate growth.

Mr Ayiloge said that such an amendment would make the tax reform bills fair and equitable in a proper federal system.

According to him, the National Assembly must amend the bills to allow states to collect and spend VAT in their domains.

Mr Ayiloge said: “WRO strongly believes that Value-Added Taxes (VAT) ought to be within the remit of the states, and the states need the tax to raise significant revenue to develop their areas.

“We disagree with the Federal Government taking VAT funds from the states and redistributing them, an act that is not federalism in any way but unbridled state socialism.”

According to him, this approach seeks equality by creating an unequal distribution of resources, which ultimately rewards ineffective leaders in some states.

Mr Ayiloge noted that reverting VAT to states would be “the best political decision since the military coup of Jan. 15, 1966, which dismantled the Regional Government arrangement negotiated by Nigeria’s nationalists.”

He recalled that VAT was first introduced by a former Ogun governor, Bisi Onabanjo, during the Second Republic, before the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida military government took over the policy and made it a federal government’s programme.

Mr Ayiloge urged Mr Tinubu not to succumb to harassment but “to continue supporting a scheme that is clearly illegal and deficient.”

He suggested that all regions should direct their energies to productive uses of the vast resources available in their respective regions. 

The executive director noted that the North’s extensive land area is favourable to mechanised farming, and if properly utilised, it could serve as Nigeria’s breadbasket.

“By making these changes, the WRO believes that Nigeria can create a more equitable and just tax system, which will ultimately benefit the entire nation,” he said. 

(NAN)