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Senate Delays Meeting With AGF Over Tax Reform Bills Review

Published

17 hours ago

Dec 15, 2024.

The Senate special committee tasked with liaising with the Federal Government on the controversial tax reform bills has yet to meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, despite earlier announcements.

Two weeks ago, the Senate constituted a committee to engage with the AGF following President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the executive to collaborate with lawmakers to fine-tune certain grey areas in the bills.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the committee was expected to meet with the AGF last week, as confirmed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. However, it was learned that the meeting did not take place.

Sources indicated that the AGF, who was out of the country at the time, allegedly informed the lawmakers that he had not received any official invitation from the Senate.

“I have only seen the invite on the pages of newspapers and TV screens; no formal invite has been sent to my office,” the AGF was reportedly quoted as saying during a phone call with one of the lawmakers.

The committee was supposed to submit its findings and recommendations before the end of the year. However, despite the directive from President Tinubu on December 3 for the executive to liaise with the legislature, the Senate has yet to secure a meeting with the AGF.

A committee member revealed that they aimed to complete their deliberations within two weeks. “We plan to finish our discussions and report back to the Senate once we are done,” the source said.

Senate AGF Tax Reform

When contacted, the chairman of the committee, Abba Moro, stated that the panel still had ample time to carry out its duties. “Was a deadline given? Even if we have, we’ve only exhausted one week; we still have one more week,” Moro explained.