Kunle Adelabu
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance & Other Financial Institutions, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, has, once again, called on Nigerians to support the reform agenda of President Bola Tinubu, which he described as pro – people and pro growth initiatives.
While stating that the reforms will bring immediate hardship, Abiru, who is representing Lagos East Senatorial District, also said that it would eventually place the country on the path to its greatness.
The lawmaker spoke to journalists at the distribution of 8kg of bags of rice and garri to 10, 000 households in Lagos East on Monday, which he said was in the true spirit of the yuletide season, and also as a way of providing succor to the people in the face of the current economic hardship in the country.
“Overall, we have provided 8kg of bags of rice and 8kg bags of garri, in a combo package for each household, totalling 10, 000 households across the district.
“We believe that’s the little that we can do to support ourselves, constituents, and also to support the initiatives of our President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We know that some of the bold and of course, necessary reforms he has embarked upon have some immediate challenges on the people, and this is one of the ways that we can use to bring some succor to some of our constituents”, he said.
He stated that the food distribution to the people was also his own support for the agenda of the President, which, according to him, is to correct decisions taken by past governments which were not in line with economic realities.
“So, we are also doing this in support of his own leadership as well, so, people can see that political office holders are all here because they are sensitive to the cause of everyone and we are equally very committed to the reforms of the President and current leadership of the country, which of course, again, are reforms that would bring about greatness to the country.
“These are reforms that are meant to address some of the past decisions of past governments that were not really very much in line with our economic realities. So, there is need to reset which is what the reforms are all about.
“Quite frankly, it will bring some immediate challenges which we are not shying away from, but we know that in the medium to the long term, of course, it will set Nigeria on the path of greatness.
“We applaud what the government is doing and we are supporting it”, he said boldly.
Speaking on some of the Tinubu’s reforms, especially the tax and VAT, Abiru charged Nigerians to properly study the details for proper understanding, adding that the reforms are pro – people and for growth.
“Some people have talked about the tax reform, and as we welcome consultations that are required, it’s also important that we study the reform properly to understand that it is pro – people and pro – growth initiatives.
“It is very sensitive to people’s yearnings and it has provided succor to people within what you can describe as the low -earning people. People earning between 800, 000 and below plus, additional 200,000 to support rent or accommodation, which in total is 1million naira.
“So, people within that bracket are exempted from tax payment:”, he explained.
Offering explanations on the VAT reforms, Abiru said:
“Equally, the VAT that people have been talking about, it has been done with a lot of human faces. It has also given exemptions to people around education, agriculture, transportation and health. All of those items are also tax exempt. You can see that this is a pro – people government and pro – people initiatives.
“In terms of business growth, which is why it is also called pro – growth as well, we made provisions for small and medium enterprises in order for them to flourish as we all know that the MSMEs form almost about 60 to 65% of all employment in the country. So, in order to encourage them, the tax reform has, again, exempt certain businesses from tax payment. For instance, if your business is within the bracket of N50 million turnover and below, such is exempted from the payment of taxes.
“Such initiatives are meant to spur growth and also make almost every environment to be competitive. So, I will implore the people and the public generally to support the reform initiatives of our President and the leadership that we have. It is an opportunity and I think that is a very lifetime opportunity that we must take advantage of”, he said.
