Former Bayelsa Governor and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson has declared that heavens won’t fall over passage of the controversial Tax Reform Bills.
Dickson made the declaration on Monday while speaking with journalists in Abuja.
The Forum of Governors from the North, the Northern Elders Forum, and Muslim clerics from the region have kicked against the proposed legislation which they claimed was inimical to the economic interest of the region.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, who recalled that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), was passed despite strident criticisms to slash in allocation to Host Communities of the oil and gas companies said those leading agitation should also sheathe swords in national interest.
He said: “The Senate has passed the bills for second reading. Public hearings will take place and people should get ready to present their positions.
“The tax bill is a law like every other law 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 any good or services from any state it should be calculated and paid to that state.
“Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws, to correct the anomalies and that’s why I’m in support.
“I know there are states that are feeling that when they apply the new sharing formula, they will earn less. It’s for them to raise those issues and bring the statistics. I don’t go by sentiments. I go by what is right and in the national interest.”
He advised those who have strong reservations about the Bill to seek avenues provided by public hearings to vent their grievances.
He said, “Forget about uproar, there will be no uproar. A public hearing is an opportunity for people to present their matters, and nobody is going to be intimidated by the uproar.
“The PIA was passed. We wanted 10% which was what Yar’adua proposed. They (federal lawmakers) reduced it to 3%. Heaven did not fall. This tax reform bills will pass and heavens will not fall.”
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