The lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Oluwole Oke, has claimed that nineteen states in the country stand to benefit more if the tax bills are passed into law.

According to Oke, who stands as the House Committee Chairman on Foreign Affairs, the bills are the beginning of the journey to the commencement of the realisation of the age-long agitation for fiscal federalism in Nigeria.

Oke said, “I am not aware of any meeting but the journey to fiscal federalism has commenced, and the 19 states of the northern part of Nigeria are the beneficiaries. The truth is that if any of our colleagues or groups of members disagrees with a clause or section of the bills based on their constituents’ demands, they should exercise their rights during consideration of the Report of the Committee on Finance or the Committee of the Whole.”

He called on dissenting members of the Green Chamber to give the bills the chance to be heard during a public debate at plenary.

“These bills should be subjected to public scrutiny at well-organised public hearings. Whatever misgivings anyone has about them, a public hearing will allow bringing those issues to the open,” he added.

In a releted development, a ranking member of the House, who spoke with Punch on condition of anonymity, said that the North would lose nothing if the bills were passed, stressing that the fears being entertained by the governors “is as a result of false narratives weaved about the bills.”

The lawmaker, who hails from the North Central, said, “The biggest problem we have in this country is not poverty. It is not hunger. Our biggest problem is that we don’t read. How can anyone read the tax bills and still oppose them? The northern region is the agricultural base of the nation. We may not have as many industries as Lagos but there are quite several factories here too. Have we spared a thought on what these can translate to?”

Describing opposition to the bills as the work of “conservative elements, “the lawmaker reminded his colleagues not to forget that “the only constant thing in life is change. Our governors should understand this too and embrace change. You want us to stick with the old order, yet you are struggling to meet basic service delivery. What is it that they are afraid of?”