…tasked Mohammed to address unemployment, salary and revitalization of moribund firms
By Suzan Edeh
The All Progressive Congress, Bauchi State Chapter has chided Governor Bala Mohammed for criticizing the Tax Reform Bill of President Bola Tinubu, saying that the governor should address issues of employment, problems of salary and revitalize ailing companies in the state.
The Spokesperson of the party in the state, Adamu Jalla Gamawa who was reacting to the development at the APC Secretariat in the state, said that the Tax Reform Bill is a welcome development that would lead to a better Nigeria, adding that the bill when passed into law would reposition the economy of the country for better productivity and efficiency as well as guarantee a fairer distribution of resources among Nigeria’s federation states.
He said that for Nigeria to compete favourably with developing nations, it must adopt the policy of paying tax, adding that the bill will bring more development to the country, particularly in the area of revenue generation.
According to Jalla, the party in the state feel obliged to respond to the issue that is generating a lot of political statements in order to keep their supporters informed about the developments going on in the state right from the beginning of the present administration till date.
"As a party, we want to respond to Governor Bala Mohammed statement in respect to president Bola Tinubu performance in the country where he stated that the president has not performed up to the expectations of Nigerians, but if we may ask, has he also performed up to the expectations of the people of the state"
"I am talking about the Governor's criticism of the Tax Reform Bill. The governor should understand that every country has its source of revenue and how it spends money in terms of expenditures, this is not something that is new"
"As long as we are concerned, Tax Reform is not a new thing that one will see as something strange. It is the government's way of making adjustments in various ways in order to meet the needs of its citizens.
"What I was expecting from Governor Mohammed was for him to take his time to study the Tax Reform Bill and where he discovers that there are issues, he should approach the appropriate authorities in order for them to look into it, rather than coming out wholeheartedly to criticize the bill"
"If you take a critical look at what is happening in the state, I am talking about the privatization policy of the state government.The government revealed plans to privatize some companies in the state, as a party we kicked against it because we feel that those companies should be revitalized so that it generate employment for youths as well as revenue for the state, but government saw it as if we were witch-hunting the governor as an opposition party.
"Remember that the governor told the people of the state that he was going to privatize some companies in the state for productivity and efficiency, but he didn't tell the people that he was going to allocate the companies to himself and his associates.
"Instead of the governor to look at the area of revitalizing these companies, he was just there collecting allocations to build structures that the state does not need and spending the money inappropriately.The governor has forgotten that in the past three years, there were salary issues in the state where some people did not collect salaries for the past 10 months, 15 months and even 3 years.
"Had it been the governor was truthful in the way he is conducting the affairs of the state and he is complaining about some of the lapses of administration of Tinubu, one will understand, but where he has his own faults and is busy looking at some else own, then his criticism is not justifiable.
"The governor said that he was speaking on behalf of the people of the state, but I feel that the governor criticism of the bill is based on other personal interest he has.The governor should address issues such as lifting the embargo on employment, revitalize the ailing industries and addressing the pending salary matters in the state"
"When he was saying that he is trying to protect the interest of Bauchi state, then when he was the minister of the F.C.T, he never fought for the interest of Bauchi state and the north in general.When Labour was agitating for salary increase and there were protests here and there in the country, he never came out to say anything in the interest of either the state or the north, is it now that he is talking"
"We are advising him that instead of complaining of the Tax Reform Bill, he should carry out his responsibilities to the people of the state. Instead of sinking resources into the building of structures in the state that does not generate any revenue, he should focus more on things that can generate revenue for the state.
"The money the federal government gave him for palliatives, nobody knew what he did with it. Even the fertilizer that was allocated to the state last year, was not initially distributed. It was until when people started shouting and complaining before it was finally distributed.
“The Coronavirus palliatives of N8 billion was given to the state government for the past 5 years, until now, the money has not been distributed to the beneficiaries. Another N3 billion was given to the government recently for victims of flood disaster, the government did not distribute the money to the beneficiaries as well.
"Last year, he was given another N5 billion palliative, he divided the money into two. He took N2.5 billion for other expenditures and the remaining N2.5 billion, he said that he was going to pay gratuities for pensioners. At the end of day, he only called not more than 100 pensioners and gave them N100k each. New tractors were allocated to the state by the federal government, but the governor brought in old and refurbished tractors, instead of the new ones allocated for the state.
"We are advising Governor Bala Mohammed that whenever he is talking, he should know that people are aware of what he is doing and they are also equally informed about what is allocated to the state that has not been utilized.So, if he is talking, he should talk constructively as a leader" he said.
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