President Umaru Yar’Adua has said that his administration will soon reform the country’s tax laws. The President said that the Federal Government was preparing a bill that would be presented to the National Assembly “for the positive reformation of tax administration in the country”

Yar’Adua spoke during a meeting with a delegation of the chief executives of companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the State House, Abuja. The captains of the nation’s foremost companies expressed their misgivings with the current tax regime, particularly the problem of multiple taxation.
The delegation had urged the President to deal decisively with the “contentious” issues of taxation in the country.

According to them, there is an urgent need to strike a proper balance between governments’ legitimate need for tax revenue and the desire to encourage investors. “I assure you that it will address issue of multiple taxation and other problems you complained of,” Yar’Adua said in response to the demands of the delegation.

The President said that the comprehensive Tax Reform Bill prepared by the immediate past administration would be reviewed and re-presented to the National Assembly for enactment. Yar’Adua further assured the delegation that his administration would diligently implement programmes and policies that would create a stable polity and an enabling environment for the private sector to play a leading role in the rapid development of the economy. He said that would help Nigeria achieve the goal of making it one of the world’s leading economies by the year 2020.

The President listed electoral reforms, adherence to the rule of law, security of lives and property, educational reforms and the urgent provision of critical infrastructure as some of the issues that would be given priority by his administration in order to create better conditions for the private sector to thrive. He said, “Once we have adherence to the rule of law as a reference point in our country, investor confidence in our economy will grow. We will pursue electoral reforms to strengthen our democratic institutions and foster political stability in our country.

“We will also reform our education sector so that it can produce knowledgeable and skilled young men and women you can employ.” The President called on the private sector to support his administration’s efforts by investing more in the provision of critical infrastructure. “I thank you for the role you are already playing, but I urge you to bring more investments, particularly for the provision of infrastructure,” he said.

According to him, the private sector should collaborate with the government to source over $9bn needed annually to fund infrastructure. He explained that the representation of the private sector on the Federal Government’s Economic Management Team was in keeping with the spirit of public sector-private sector partnership.