A member of the House of Representatives, Sada Soli, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills, stating that they were not properly drafted and did not go through the necessary professional review.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday night, Soli, who represents Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency, argued that Tinubu was misadvised on the tax reform process, leading to significant errors in the bills.
The lawmaker pointed out that those responsible for drafting the bills made fundamental mistakes, including incorrectly referring to them as Acts, which indicated a lack of professional oversight.
“Let us be fair to Mr. President. For a President to take a decision, he has to rely on certain advice. I think the President was poorly advised,” Soli stated.
“People that drafted these bills in the first place, the draft was poorly done because they were referring to the bills as Acts. When I read these bills, I know that they were poorly drafted and were not subjected to professional drafters.”
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He further emphasized that the bills did not follow the standard legislative process before being presented.
“We have to be fair to the President. He is an individual. He was advised by his consultants. And the bill did not go through the normal process it should have followed.”
Despite the drafting flaws, Soli acknowledged Tinubu’s openness to scrutiny and amendments. He described the President as a politically astute leader who takes an inclusive approach to governance.
“Bola Tinubu, anybody that knows him knows his political sagacity. He is an inclusive politician. I have to be fair to him. When he realizes that the bills are capable of causing some problems, he subjected them to all scrutiny. Governors looked at them.”
He also noted that Tinubu encouraged a thorough review of the bills by key stakeholders, including the Attorney General of the Federation, the Senate, and members of the House of Representatives.
“He (Tinubu) said that the Senate should go and sit down with the Attorney General of the Federation. He discussed with the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives to widely look at them, before he tried to consider the bills.”
Following deliberations, the tax reform bills successfully passed the second reading in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bills will now move to committee review, where lawmakers will examine the concerns raised and consider possible amendments before final approval.
