Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, has stated that curses and criticism from Nigerians would not stop him from his commitment to advancing tax reforms bills in the country.
Speaking at the presentation of a technical committee report by the League of Northern Democrats (LND) in Abuja on Thursday, Oyedele revealed the extent of backlash he and his family have faced while working on the tax reform bills.
“Even on social media, you need to see the number of people cursing me and my family.
“I don’t take it personally. I just go through to see if there are any useful comments we can work on. It’s public service. You’re not meant to be appreciated and praised every time. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world,” he said.
Oyedele stressed the importance of accountability in public service, stating that his committee approached the tax reforms as a duty to the nation.
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He continued, “Public service is public service. You are accountable to the people and you must take that very seriously.
“So our approach to this is that some Nigerians were asked to do this for our country and I had the privilege of leading that team and we did our best but we’re not in any way suggesting that our best is the best for Nigeria.
“You cannot have more than 200 million people and you then assume that about 100 people are the smartest. You know that that would be arrogance at a different level.
“So this engagement helped us to even improve the quality of what we have done.
He clarified that no external body, including the World Bank, IMF, or even the President, dictated the content of the tax reform bills.
“I’ve said this in a number of fora and I’ll say it again. There’s not a single person in the world, not World Bank, not IMF, not United Nations, not Mr President, not any governor, not any minister, past or present, not president, past or present, no one dictated anything to us.
“Every single thing you see in all those bills were the outcome of debates by the committee that is representative nationally.”
He emphasized that the reforms are a product of robust discussions and national representation, noting that the committee had input from all geopolitical zones, over 20 government institutions, and various interest groups, including persons with disabilities.
“We have people from all the geo-political zones. We have more than 20 government institutions. We have all manner of engagement, including with people with disability.
“But we know that engagements will never end. In fact, if the bills are passed, it doesn’t mean that we should stop engaging. We should continue, ” he stated.
Oyedele emphasized that feedback remains essential to refining laws and ensuring effective implementation.
“So, I’m eagerly looking forward to the outcome of this event today and I can give you one assurance. Every single point you send to us will be carefully considered and we’ll get back to you with our own explanations.
“So once we have superior reasoning and superior arguments, we bow to it very quickly because we have no agenda other than the agenda for Nigeria,” he added.
