Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, sent an unequivocal reply to the Presidency on Tuesday, saying he stands by his comment on the proposed tax reforms by President Bola Tinubu.
“I cannot be threatened as a governor. I stand by my comments. It is not meant to malign, insult or to do anything to the contrary other than mean well,” Mohammed said on Channels Television‘s 2024 Year-End Review programme.
The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum warned that the Presidency should not be arrogant but listen to the people, stressing that the proposed tax bills, if passed, would have “concomitant effects” and threaten the survival of the sub-nationals and impoverish them.
“We believe that as the leader of the federation and all other federating units, they should listen to us, not to be arrogant and showing some elements of impunity that whatever happens, they would go ahead,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed faulted the Presidency’s “undemocratic” stance on the tax bills, saying that even those with military backgrounds would have listened to the people and addressed the “areas of suspicion and mistrust” in the proposed piece of legislation.
He said some states should not be allowed to die because they do not have the headquarters of companies in Nigeria.
Mohammed had criticised Tinubu’s tax bills in the National Assembly, claiming that they are skewed to favour one region above another.
He claimed the bills amounted to “calls for anarchy” and warned that Tinubu would see “our real colour the if the legislations were passed.
The presidency subsequently asked the governor to withdraw his comment, describing it as “inflammatory rhetoric” and “direct threats toward the federal government”.
Mohammed and his 18 colleagues in Northern Nigeria had unanimously rejected the proposed tax reforms of the President which has courted controversy since its introduction in the parliament but Tinubu has insisted that the tax reforms have come to stay.