The 36 state governors’ support of the tax reform bills that President Bola Tinubu presented to the National Assembly is thought to have prevented a tense relationship between the president and Vice President Kashim Shettima from worsening and potentially resulting in a full-blown fallout.
Tinubu and Shettima were at odds because of the governors’ initial rejection of the laws, according to those close to the presidency.
The president was viewed as being directly challenged when Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, publicly participated in a media campaign opposing the laws.
Zulum has stated that the Northern region would probably suffer greatly as a result of the measures.
The Northern governor added that Lagos State would be the only state to benefit if the proposals were to become law.
Because they believed that Lagos State, which receives more than half of the nation’s VAT revenue, would be unfairly favored by the proposed 60% derivation principle, the governors had first opposed the measures. The governors’ approved version, however, drastically reduced the derivation principle to 30%.
The speed at which the bills moved through the legislature made him scowl.
“Why the haste? It was nearly 20 years until the Petroleum Industry Bill was eventually passed. However, this tax reform law will be forwarded and given congressional consideration in less than a week. It should be handled properly and cautiously so that our children would benefit from it even after we leave,” Zulum had stated.
Notably, the measures were rejected in 2024 by the National Economic Council (NEC), which was presided over by Vice President Shettima as its chair.
Zulum’s move is believed to have been viewed as an insult to the president by Tinubu’s kitchen cabinet.
The governor’s actions apparently produced tension between the president and the vice president, according to sources at the presidential villa, despite the fact that the president and his close associates did not publicly address Zulum’s comments.
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The relationship between the governor of Lagos State and the president is well-known to Nigerians, as is the relationship between the governor of Borno State and the vice president. Since the president is his political godfather, the voice of the Lagos State governor could be mistaken for the president’s.
Zulum’s conduct might also be interpreted as supporting Shettima’s stance on any matter, whether it is correct or incorrect. People who claim that it’s a case of Esau’s hand and Jacob’s voice might not be entirely incorrect, according to a presidential source.
As a result, the source continued, “the governors had to reconsider their original stance on the bills and approve a revised version of the documents on the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum.”
