Former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has appealed to northerners to reconsider their criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s proposed tax reform bills.
The bills, currently before the National Assembly, have drawn sharp opposition from northern leaders and calls for a comprehensive review, with concerns that the reforms may disproportionately affect the region.
The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), representing 19 states, echoed these reservations after consultations with the Northern Traditional Rulers Council.
During a Channels Television town hall meeting on the tax reform bills on Monday, Dogara urged northern governors and elites to adopt an informed approach, emphasising the potential long-term benefits of the reforms.
“I want to talk to my brothers in the North,” Dogara said. “I don’t think this is the time for us to begin to condemn the president and to begin to say that on account of these bills, he is anti-north. I want to remind us that the president has done something significant.
