Tax Reform Bill: Northern Youths Back Dep Senate President, Barau

By Ayodele Oni

Some youths from the 19 Northern States of the country have thrown their support behind the deputy president of the Senate, Barau Jibrin over his role in the ongoing debate on the Tax Reform Bills before the national assembly.

The youths staged a solidarity rally on Tuesday in support of the Deputy President describing him as the “Sardauna of our era.”

Barau has been reported to have neither support nor oppose the bills, at the red chamber, but instead called for inputs by experts before arriving at any resolution.

The peaceful rally was held at the entrance of the National Assembly, Abuja, with the youths singing the praises of the Deputy President of the Senate.

According to them, the rally was organised to warn those attacking the Deputy President of the Senate over last Wednesday’s resolution of the Senate allowing tax reform experts access to the chamber to make presentations during the plenary session on the Tax Reform Bills.

Barau had, during the plenary session, said that the experts, including the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, should be allowed to educate the Senators and Nigerians on the Tax Reform Bills.

Carrying banners with various inscriptions, the protesters said Barau remains the best Senator in the North, given his sponsorship of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) bill.

One of those that spoke, a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS), Tijjani Kabiru Mohammed, said the Deputy President of the Senate has neither supported nor kicked against the Tax Reform Bills; instead, he pushed for the sensitization of Nigerians.