The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has questioned the passage of the 2022 Finance Bill by the National Assembly without giving room for public hearing and engagement with stakeholders in the consideration of the bill.

The Executive Director of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, in a statement, said the ‘hasty passage’ of the bill calls to question the representation role of the federal lawmakers.

The Senate and the House of Representatives passed the bill on 28 December, 2022.

Anchored on five fundamental policy drivers, the bill is designed address issues that concern tax equity, climate change, job creation and economic growth, tax incentives’ reform and revenue generation/tax administration.

The CPPE, which noted that the legislation has profound implications for investment, citizens’ welfare and the Nigerian economy, argued that it is curious and puzzling that the senate gave just 24 hours’ notice for stakeholders to attend a public hearing on the bill.

‘There is no better expression of deliberate exclusion of stakeholders from this important legislative process’, the statement added.

‘The House of Representatives gave a more generous notice of about three weeks. But in a sudden and baffling twist of events, the house passed the bill before the date of the advertised public hearing, which was 13th January, 2023’.

CPPE said that it is regrettable that the National Assembly hurriedly passed the bill without the benefit of input from citizens whom they were elected to represent.

‘What the National Assembly has done is tantamount to disrespect, disregard and contempt of the Nigerian people and the business community’, it said.

The organisation noted that the details of the bill have far-reaching implications for investors and citizens.

It advised President Muhammadu Buhari against signing the bill into law until the National Assembly properly engages stakeholders as required by legislative protocols.

Photo source: PLAC