The National Assembly on Tuesday during plenary approved five bills on devolution of powers but rejected the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill.
The bills were part of the 68 amendment bills proposed by the joint committee of the Federal legislature on constitution review.
TOS NEWS Understands that the bills seek to give states control of some sectors by removing them from the Executive list to the Concurrent list.
The “bill for an Act to Alter Part I of the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to include Value Added Tax on the Exclusive Legislative List”, was borne from the “feud” between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in 2021, over rights to collect Value Added Tax.
The former had made moves to legally own the rights. It also approached the National Assembly and asked that it include the collection of VAT in the exclusive legislative list.
As lawmakers deliberate at plenary, the bill recorded a low number of votes, below the required number needed for it to pass.
At the Senate, 41 lawmakers voted in favour of the legislation while 44 voted against.
And at the House of Representatives, 209 members voted against and only 91 voted in favour of the legislation.
Some of the legislations on devolution of powers that passed at the National Assembly include a bill to move airports from exclusive legislative list to concurrent legislative list.
At the Senate, the bill had 84 senators vote in favour of it and only two voted against it.
At the House of Representatives, 283 voted for it while 30 voted against.
Another bill passed is the bill to move fingerprints, identification and criminal records from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.
While 86 senators voted for the bill, three voted against it. The legislation was also passed at the House.
