By James Isaac, Abuja
The Senator who represents Edo South in the senate , and a chieftain of the Labour Party(LP) Neda Imasuen has taken a stand on the debate about the propriety or otherwise of having a tax reform bill,saying that Nigeria is due for a reform in the area of taxation, this according to him can be done by way of revamping and rejigging our tax policies and laws to address the present day reality.
In his view, the tax reform bill is grossly misunderstood, people need to study the bill to come to terms with the benefits that can be derived from it; as it addresses the rich the middle class and the poor, for people who earn minimum wage are exempted from paying tax, while the rich pays a little higher.
He posited that, the main controversy about the bill stems from Value Added Tax (VAT), where some section of the Country believed that it does not favour them saying,” the whole idea behind the reform is you take as much as you contribute towards it”.
The lawmaker was unequivocal that the governors are lazy and need to think out of the box: seek for r ways to generate revenue , saying tha revenue generation goes beyond the monthly subvention recieved from the Federal Government, that the governors should look inwards and harvest what they have, going by his submission,if this is done, there will be a healthy competition between the states. Apart from the oil produced in the Southern part of the Country, he said that the North have more mineral deposit there by giving them comparativevl advantage over other regions.
He steessed that, he is for good policies that will better the lives of Nigerians but is not swayed by party politics, commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking the bull by the horn through initiating reform policies that are geared toward uplifting the living standard of the masses at the infancy stage of his administration.
With respect to the upcoming bye election in Edo State, he said that the Labour Party(LP) is doing all within its powers to ensure that it comes out victorious at the end of the day although they are a minority party.
