The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) Students Wing has rejected the proposed Tax Reform Bill and called on northern legislators and governors to study it adequately and come up with a practical way out.
Addressing newsmen on Friday in Gusau, Zamfara State, the National Secretary of the CNG Students Wing, Ahmad Abdulgafar, said they have watched carefully, particularly the impact of the Tax Reform Bill on education in Northern Nigeria.
“We have watched carefully in the recent weeks and months about activities of the Nigerian Government regarding certain policies on education and have x-rayed their impacts on the education sector and most especially the northern Nigerian students that the organisation represents,” he said.
He maintained that the CNG Students Wing came up with the developments and has advised on a way out.
“The Coalition of Northern Groups Students-Wing rejects in totality the proposed Tax Reform Bill by the Federal Government. The bill is no doubt anti-North and a threat to the educational development of the region.”
According to him, the new Tax Reform Bill, if passed, will divert funds from critical sectors such as infrastructure and innovation initiatives with long-term development impact.
“It shifts attention to student loans, which could also give public tertiary institutions a reason to increase their tuition fees. It could also make our public tertiary institutions revenue-generating entities, paving the way for the privatisation of our tertiary institutions, thereby making them inaccessible to the masses,” he stated.
“We call on the federal government to discontinue the reform process and give room for holistic consultation and amendment before legislation.”
“We also call on the northern legislators and governors to study the bill adequately in order to come up with a practical way out.”
The Coalition of Northern Groups Students Wing (CNG-SW), as vanguard of the Federal Government Students Loan Scheme, has participated actively in sensitising the students, parents, and the general public about the Student Loan Scheme (Bill and Act), as well as sensitising and mobilising students to apply for the loan.
“We have critically studied and analysed the release of disbursement statistics by the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) across tertiary institutions in the Northern region.”
“From the disbursement statistics, over eighty-two thousand nine hundred and fifty-one (82,951) students across forty-five (45) institutions benefitted from the region. It is imperative to clarify that out of the two hundred and thirty-four (234) federal and state tertiary institutions cleared by NELFUND for the first phase, only ninety-six (96) were from the north, with fifty-one (51) tertiary institutions yet to receive disbursement.”
There is a deliberate attempt to narrow the NELFUND coverage in the Northern region, as the total number of federal and state tertiary institutions in the region is more than 96.
“In Zamfara State, for instance, only four (4) out of the ten (10) public tertiary institutions were covered. Sokoto only 4, Kano only 4, and so on. Priority was also given to federal institutions with little state-owned institutions.”
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