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The controversy trailing the tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu has attracted the interest of some youths from the 19 northern states.
The youths on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, massed at the entrance of the National Assembly complex in Abuja to protest attacks on the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibril, over his comments on the bill.
They warned those criticising Barau to desist from that because the Deputy Senate President has neither supported nor rejected the bills.
Barau had in November presided over plenary when heads of relevant government agencies and tax reform experts briefed senators on the merits and methodology of the bills.
He had canvassed that the experts, who included Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, should be allowed to educate the senators and Nigerians on the proposed bill.
The protesters bore placards, bearing various inscriptions, such as: “Senator Barau: The Sardauna of our era”; “Stop attacking Senator Barau”,; “Senator Barau: The pro-masses lawmaker”; “Senator Barau is the new leader of the North”, “Leave Senator Barau alone”, etc.
According to them, Barau remains the best Senator in the North, having successfully sponsored the North West Development Commission bill.
Comrade Tijjani Kabiru Mohammed, a
former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, noted all Barau did was to encourage sensitisation of the people, which did not translate to supporting or opposing the bills.
