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Barau: Five stages Tax Reform Bills must pass through before passage

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By Ismail Mudashir

For bills, including the contentious Tax Reform Bills, to be passed at the National Assembly, they must pass through the following stages:

A bill is a draft of a proposed law presented before the Senate and House of Representatives for deliberation. Such a bill can be given by the executive or members of the National Assembly (Senators or House of Representatives).

The four Tax Reform Bills are executive bills from the executive arm of government.

1: First Reading:

The Tax Reform Bills, like all other executive bills, scaled through the first reading when the letter by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to that effect, was read on the floor of both chambers of the National Assembly ( Senate and House of Representatives).

At the first reading, the bills are introduced to senators and members of the House of Representatives.

2: Second Reading:

In the second reading, the general principles of the bills are discussed at the chambers. The bill’s sponsors will present their lead debate; other lawmakers will be allowed to speak on it afterwards.

Since the tax reform bills are from the executive branch, the Senate Leader, Michael Opayemi Bamidele, presented the lead debate last Thursday during the plenary presided over by the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON.

When a bill scales through a second reading, it is referred to relevant committees for further legislative actions.

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The Tax Reform Bills were on Thursday referred to the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger State). It has six weeks to scrutinise the bills with stakeholders.

3: Committee Level

At this level, the bill would be subjected to thorough legislative scrutiny, and stakeholders would be given opportunities to contribute to shaping the draft laws.

The committee will organise a public hearing where all stakeholders, ulamas, pastors, socio-cultural, political, religious groups, experts, technocrats and other stakeholders would make input to the bills.

Before the public hearing, advertisements would be placed in newspapers while commercials would be aired on radio and television stations, requesting the submission of memoranda by stakeholders.

The committee Secretariat would aggregate the input of the stakeholders during the public hearing in addition to the memoranda submitted. This will form the committee’s report.

The input of the stakeholders is always the fulcrum of the committee’s report.
This is the level at which the Tax Reform Bills are now.

4: Third Reading.

At this point, the committee’s report would be presented and considered during the plenary in the chamber.

The chairman of the committee would present or lay the report. The chairman would read it.

After the reading, the clause-by-clause analysis of the bills will be done by a committee of the whole. All senators would vote on each clause of the bills.

If most senators vote in support of the bills, it would be passed for a third reading. If it is the other way around, it would be rejected.

The Tax Reform bills can be killed if the lawmakers vote against them.

But if the bill is passed, it would be sent to the Senate or House for concurrence, depending on its origin.

5 a: Signing of the Bill

After the bill is passed, the clerk will print and sign a final copy. The bill is issued after the appropriate presiding officer appends his signature.

5 b: President’s Assent/Signature

The final copy, as approved by both chambers, is presented to the president for his signature. The president’s signature is required to convert a bill into law, and section 58(4) of the Constitution requires the president to append his signature to the bill within 30 days of receipt.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, only presided over the plenary on Wednesday, during which the tax experts were allowed to educate the senators and indeed all Nigerians on tax reform bills.

During the sitting, Senator Barau neither supported nor kicked against the bill; instead, he emphasised an urgent need for all to be educated on the proposed laws. Nothing more.

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Breaking:Former Chief Justice Of Nigeria Ibrahim Tanko Is Dead

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Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (retd.), is dead.

A close source confirmed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday morning that the former head of Nigerian judiciary passed away at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

“Ex-CJN Tanko Muhammad is dead. He passed away this morning at a Saudi Arabian Hospital,” the source said.

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Nigeria Tracker reports that Late President Muhammadu Buhari appointed late Justice Ibrahim Tanko into the exalted seat after the sacking of his predecessor Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen over the issue of code of conduct in January 2019.

In Late 2022 Justice Ibrahim Tanko suddenly exited the seat due to what many said intense pressure from cabals in Late President Muhammad Buhari’s presidency and was succeeded by retired Justice olukayode .

Late Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad hails from Bauchi state .

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The Aso Rock Gossip That Made Late President Buhari Lock His Wife Out

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

In a new biography, former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed that late President Muhammadu Buhari began locking his bedroom door, preventing her from gaining access, after hearing rumors within Aso Rock that she intended to kill him.

This personal account is featured in the 600-page book, ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, where Aisha Buhari details her experience managing her husband’s health challenges during his presidency.

She stated that the former president, trusting the gossip circulating within the presidential villa, altered some of his personal habits as a result.

The biography, which was authored by Charles Omole, director-general of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research, was launched at the presidential villa in Abuja.

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Many high-profile persons and political chieftains, including President Bola Tinubu, attended the launch.

In the book, Aisha said Buhari’s 2017 health crisis was not a mysterious ailment or the effect of poisoning, but began after a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutritional habits.

The former first lady said she had long managed her husband’s meals and supplements at specific hours, adding that the regimen helped Buhari to maintain stability.

“According to Aisha Buhari, her husband’s 2017 health crisis did not originate as a mysterious ailment or a covert plot. It started, she says, with the loss of a routine; ‘my nutrition,’ she describes it, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa,” the book reads.

When they moved to the villa, she said she convened a meeting with close staff including Suhayb Rafindadi, the physician; Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer; the housekeeper, and the DSS DG to explain the plan.

After some time, the plan was discontinued.

“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, I explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Aisha was quoted as saying in the book.

“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him.

“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, adding that the president began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped”.

“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.

Aisha denied stories of plots to poison her husband, adding that Buhari’s health began deteriorating because of “loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis”.

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Former Kano LG Chairmen Endorse Tinubu, Reaffirm Loyalty to Ganduje as Kano APC Leader

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‎Former local government chairmen in Kano State who served between 2014 and 2024 under the administration of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term and reaffirmed their loyalty to the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ganduje, as the party’s leader in Kano State.

‎The former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, Baffa Takai, made this position known during a closed-door meeting with Kano APC stakeholders in Abuja.

‎‎The former local government chairmen also expressed their solidarity with APC stakeholders under the leadership of Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi, commending their efforts toward promoting unity and progress within the party.

‎They called on other party members to join hands with them in fostering peace, unity, and progress within the APC.

‎The group further reaffirmed its commitment to the party’s ideals and principles and pledged to continue working collectively to strengthen the party and ensure its victory in future elections.

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