Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Hassan Kukah, has expressed support for the proposed tax reform Bills introduced by President Bola Tinubu, stating that they have the potential to curb the recklessness of the elite in the country.
Speaking on a television programme yesterday, Kukah asserted that the Bills were what the country needed to catapult it into economic prosperity.
According to the controversial cleric, the Bills would halt the fiscal impunity and financial recklessness of the elites.
The Bill, which has passed the second reading at the Senate, is facing vehement pushback from different quarters, especially from elites in Northern Nigeria.
Notable northern groups and figures like the Northern Governors Forum, (NGF), the Northern Elders Forum, (NEF), the National Economic Council, (NEC), and Senator Mohammed Ali-Ndume, among others, have publicly voiced their opposition to the Bill and demanded its withdraw.
According to them, the provisions of the Bill do not reflect the region’s interests and would only worsen the poverty, underdevelopment and other socio-economic challenges the region is already grappling with.
Kukah urged the Federal Government to ensure that the on-going reforms lead to the country’s development, adding that the mismanagement of the nation’s resources by its elites have left it in ruinous state.
According to the cleric, the enormous human and natural resources Nigeria is endowed with must be properly harnessed and utilised in order to stem the tide of violence among its energetic youths.
He said, “I am excited about the issue of tax reform Bills.The reforms should end the narrative of Nigerians living in a country that is so richly endowed but are spectators to the rascality and irresponsibility of the elites who continue to mismanage our resources.
“Any form of reform at all must get this thoroughly dysfunctional country working again”.
