Nelson Utip
Senator Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, said on Monday that in spite of opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s controversial tax reform bills, the National Assembly would pass them,
The Lawmaker, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP representing the Bayelsa-West Senatorial District, stated this while interfacing with Newsmen in Abuja.
The former governor posited that if the National Assembly could pass the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), they will also pass the tax reform bills, which have already passed second reading in the Senate. He dismissed insinuations that the planned public hearing on the bills could be chaotic if not postponed for further consultations with stakeholders.
Dickson called on those opposed to the tax bills to attend the public hearing with facts and figures if they had superior views against the legislation.
Citing the case of the PIA, the Lawmaker is of the opinion that since the National Assembly passed it with the 3 percent statutory fees payable to host communities in spite of the Niger Delta leaders’ insistence on the 10 percent recommended in the executive bill, the tax reform bills would not be delayed unnecessarily.
The PIA 2021, stipulates that the 3 percent fee applies to the Operating Expenses or Expenditure (OPEX) of the previous year, which oil companies must remit to host communities.
The Senator refreshed memories that the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had proposed a 10 percent fee for host communities, but the National Assembly passed 3 percent after nearly two decades without any protest.
“The Senate has passed the bills for second reading. The public hearing will take place, and people should get ready to present their positions.
“The tax bill is a law like any other, and it has to go through the normal legislative process.
“Right now, taxes from Bayelsa State are paid to Lagos State, and I don’t want that to continue.
“When there is consumption of goods or services from any state, it should be calculated and paid to that state.
“Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws and correct the anomalies, and that’s why I’m in support.
“I know there are states that feel they will earn less with the new sharing formula. It’s for them to raise those issues and provide the statistics. I don’t go by sentiments. I go by what is right and in the national interest.” He said dismissing any form of uproar during the proposed public hearing.
“Forget about the uproar; there will be no uproar. A public hearing is an opportunity for people to present their concerns, and no one will be intimidated by any uproar.
“The PIA was passed. We wanted 10 percent, which was what Yar’Adua proposed. They (federal lawmakers) reduced it to 3 percent. Heaven did not fall. These tax reform bills will pass, and the heavens will not fall.” He explained.
The Senate Committee on Finance, saddled with the task of conducting the public hearing, six weeks to complete the assignment.
