Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconsider any proposed tax reform laws that might deepen regional divisions in Nigeria.

Mohammed said this at the opening of the State Executive Council (Exco) meeting at the Government House yesterday in Bauchi.

The governor said there was a need for policies that reflect fairness and unity across the country.

He expressed concern about the ongoing discussions around the national tax reform law, saying it might overlook the interests of the North.

“As one nation, Nigeria should avoid enacting laws that could potentially marginalise any region.

“I urge President Tinubu to refrain from approving any measures that could disadvantage certain regions,” Mohammed said.

Also, concerned leaders in Borno South Senatorial District have expressed support for the position of their senator, Mohammed Ali Ndume, for opposing Federal Government’s plan to reform tax administration in the country.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja by their spokesman, Bulama Ali Haruna Sawa, the district’s leaders, under the aegis of Southern Borno Concerned Citizens, said they supported behind Ndume, who had urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to jettison his proposed tax reforms.

The statement said: “We fully identify with the positions of the Northern Governors, our revered Northern Elders and the National Economic Council, and, of course, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, over the matter.

“The said Bashir Adamu, if he actually exists, is at best a meddlesome interloper who is not known to anybody in Southern Borno.

“We challenge him to make a physical appearance as proof of his real identity, and to tell the world at which meeting it was agreed that the people of Southern Borno differ with their senator over the tax reform Bill.

“It is not only true that the Bills have the tendency to deepen the pedagogy of the Nigerian masses but are heavily skewed against our people and indeed the people of the North.

“We had expected Adamu Bashir to take up arguments based on issues raised by the senator in the interview rather than rush to the public with a poorly scripted demagogue on behalf of his paymasters.

“It is rather a paradox that Bashir talks about recalling Senator Ndume at a time we are getting pleased and satisfied with Ndume’s work as our senator.”

The group added: “It is also unfortunate that somebody somewhere has decided to trivialise the very serious issue of a Bill that will further cause harm to an already despairing populace, for obvious pecuniary gains.

“Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has often made us proud every time he comments on national issues, including the most recent one about the Tax Bill.

“While his views may sound repugnant to the powers that be, they are very pleasing to us and reflective of the mood of Nigerians in general. Never has Senator Ndume spoken about issues, and his views were found to be contrary to the general public’s expectations.

“To every right-thinking Nigerian, Senator Ndume merely re-echoed the prevailing sentiment in the country to the effect that some of the fiscal reforms being introduced in Nigeria are at variance with the general mood and antithetical, injurious, and painful to the citizen.

“It is a truism that at a time the governments of other countries, our neighbor, Ghana, are reducing taxes for their citizens, ours has become so insensitive, to the extent of increasing taxes.

“The Nigerian government ought to learn from the recent experiences of Kenya, where planned fiscal reforms plunged the country into a nationwide catastrophe.

“We are happy with Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, and we are satisfied with his outing so far.

“He represents what we stand for, and he epitomises our aspirations. As our representative, Senator Ndume has done so well and has our mandate to say all that he was quoted to have said in that particular interview, and of course others.”