Governor Babagana Zulum has revealed that the northern Governors need more time for consultations on the tax reforms proposed by President Bola Tinubu.
The Borno State Governor explained that this is why they advised President Tinubu to withdraw the bills so they could consult further.
Governor Zulum made the disclosure on Sunday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, adding that contrary to insinuations in certain quarters, the Governors are not against the administration of President Tinubu.
According to him, the north gave Tinubu over sixty percent of votes during the 2023 elections which is a clear indication of their support for him.
He, however, maintained that he wouldn’t withdraw his earlier statement on the proposed tax reforms in which he maintained that the bill would only be beneficial to Lagos State and would make other regions, including the north, suffer.
“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law. Based on the calculations that we did, only Lagos and Rivers States will benefit from this scheme. We did our own research and concluded that we would lose.
On the narration in some places that he is working against the government of President Tinubu, Zulum affirmed his commitment to the President and the All Progressives Congress (APC), submitting that the northern governors are not against President Tinubu.
“I am a strong member of APC. If you can count two governors before 2019 and 2023 who were in support of Tinubu, you can mention Governor Zulum. I was the first governor to come out publicly and say that power must go to the South.
“Unfortunately, the President was told by many that the North was against him. 60.2 per cent of his votes came from the north,” he submitted.
