Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has called for wider consultations on the tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu.
He praised Tinubu for the proposed bills, however, insisted that Nigerians were not sufficiently educated before the bills were introduced.
Kalu asserted that the economic reforms embarked upon by the incumbent administration would yield positive results.
He emphasized that his support for Tinubu is not driven by sycophancy, pointing out that as an established politician, he does not need to curry favours.
Speaking via a statement from his Media Office yesterday, the lawmaker explained that the revamping of the nation’s laws, some of which were over 100 years old was imperative and inevitable considering its obsoleteness and ineffectiveness to meet the expectations of the current global economic realities.
Kalu, who spoke at the Igbere home of Chief Daniel Eke, a former Abia State governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he paid a New Year’s visit, said that for Nigeria to make any meaningful progress like China is currently doing, the 36 states must be made to compete among themselves.
He said, “Tinubu is a courageous leader who took the bull by its horns, I’m not saying this out of sycophancy to gain any favours as you all know I’m an accomplished politician and business entrepreneur.
“We need to give the President a chance to carry out these reforms and the tax reform is not a bad bill, it is progressive but the problem is that Nigerians were not lectured enough and lack orientation about its many benefits.
“The Tax reform bill is not bad but we need to carry other regions along. The other regions need to be educated on what the Tax Bill is all about.”
Making reference to China, Kalu explained that the Tax Reform Bills would encourage competition among states which he said would bring about the harnessing of state resources and improved productivity.
He said, “We can’t make any headway as a nation if we don’t go the China way, which is competition. Nigerians must face economic competition. Each of the 36 states should compete with others in terms of productivity. That is the only way the entire country can grow and develop like China.
“President Tinubu is trying to ensure that all the states become competitive. A country like China has been growing for the last 35 years at a 10 percent growth rate which has made it a great country.
“They are growing not because of human rights but they are growing in competition. We must engage in competition if we want to grow the practice of sharing free money in Abuja cannot continue.
“We must test our resilience. All our laws need reformation. They are over 100 years old but we need to consult with the people. To catch up with other Nations we should build more Universities we are still backward.”
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