TAX BILL: Youth Assembly angry with Barau, Deputy Senate President, calls him enemy of Kano, North

By OUR REPORTER

The Northern Youth Assembly (Majalisar Matasan Arewa) has issued an open letter in which it accuses Senator Barau Jibrin, Deputy Senate President, of supporting the Tinubu administration’s tax reform bill, which the youths claim threatens the economic and commercial stability of Northern Nigeria.

The Assembly therefore tagged Jibrin, a senator representing Kano North Senatorial District, as “enemy of Kano and Northern Nigeria” for such behaviour.

The Northern Youth Assembly (NYA), a youth organization representing the 19 Northern states, argues in the letter that Senator Jibrin’s support for the bill disregards the socio-economic challenges faced by Northern Nigeria, such as poverty, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure.

The group alleges that his actions are influenced by political ambitions tied to the 2027 elections and a desire to gain favour with political elites, rather than serving his constituency.

The Arewa youth Assembly, in the letter signed by representatives from across the 19 Northern Nigeria states, also criticizes the senator’s conduct during Senate plenaries, accusing him of prioritizing political interests over the welfare of the North, and warns that the tax reform bill could worsen economic hardships, harm businesses and deepen poverty in the region.

In the meantime, the Northern youths have urged Senator Barau Jibrin to reconsider his position and address the region’s pressing challenges, even as they threaten to organize opposition against him if he continues to support what they describe as an agenda that is harmful to the North.

Read the letter below:

AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR BARAU I. JIBRIN, DEPUTY SENATE PRESIDENT, REPRESENTING KANO NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT BY NORTHERN YOUTH ASSEMBLY (MAJALISAR MATASAN AREWA)

Dear Distinguished Senator Barau I. Jibrin,

YOU ARE THE WORST POLITICAL BETRAYER AND ENEMY TO KANO STATE AND THE NORTH, AND YOUR DESPERATE POLITICAL AMBITION WOULD NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF THE DAY COME 2027, AS YOU ARE SET TO MANIPULATE THE PROCESS TOWARDS THE PASSAGE OF ANTI – NORTH TAX REFORM BILL, WITHOUT RECOURSE TO THE IMMINENT SUFFERINGS OF YOUR PEOPLE IN THE NORTH

The Northern Youth Assembly (Majalisar Matasan Arewa), on behalf of the 19 Northern States leadership of the Assembly, wishes to express our unequivocal disappointment and dismay in you, following your manipulative action towards the scaling for the second reading, of an evil tax reform bill, which would certainly undermine the North, and further relegate the region economically and commercially. Your shameful act of manipulating your way to systematically support the passage of the proposed evil tax reform bill put forth by the Tinubu administration, is the highest order of your insensitivity to the economic and commercial plight of your constituency, Kano State and the entire Northern Nigeria.

As representatives of the Northern Nigerian youth, we believe that the proposed tax reform bill, in its current form, would surely disproportionately affect the economic livelihoods and aspirations of our people, and it is of course without taking into cognizance of the current economic reality in the country.

Our disappointment is more on your dictatorial attitude at the senate plenary to impose your opinion and self-serving interest on behalf of your political God-fathers, who promise you heaven and earth come 2027, a dream which would never come through. Even though you are quite aware that this bill is anti-North and has the tendency of further impoverishing the people in the North, and would further cripple economic and commercial activities in the region, and yet you are hell bent on making it a reality. While it is obvious that the proposed tax reform is of so much interest to the people at the centre, however, your unwavering enthusiasm to champion the bill, that is clearly anti-North, exposes your misguided commitment to the course of protecting the interest of those you represent. It is very practical that the North faces a barrage of critical issues such as: acute shortage of electricity supply, rampant insecurity across the region, naked poverty, unemployment and a dismal state of infrastructure, to name just a few, but you have yet resolved to lead the war of further destroying the little prospects left of the North.

Let us remind you that the purpose of your election was to fundamentally champion the course to address the development challenges facing your region, through effective legislative engagement, rather than dedicating your energy to serve an anti-northern Nigeria agenda, which would further marginalize the Northern Nigerian people, the region where you come from. It would be wiser and more beneficial for you to prioritize your focus towards championing the course of alleviating the pressing socio-economic challenges ravaging the people in the North. This tax reform, in its current form, threatens to exacerbate the burdens of businesses and families in Northern Nigeria—that are already struggling to survive due to inconsistent power supply and un-friendly Government policies which have been crippling the economy and growth of Northern Nigeria.

Northern Nigerian requires only the leaders who could speak in the interest of the region, not hired lobbyists and agents of destruction, who would do everything to misguide and deceive their people for some cheap political gains.

We wish to inform you that the Northern Youth Assembly is highly disappointed in you and your cohorts for accepting to be engaged to destroy the north and its future.

We are committed to fight this course with our last drop of blood and to expose you and your likes, who are ready to auction the North and its future, as we could no longer trust and surrender our destiny into the hands of political merchants, betrayers and political hypocrites.

The proposed Tinubu Tax Reform Bill, is evil and that was the reason why, the National Economic Advisory Council and Northern Governors, rejected the bill in the first place, while people like you are trying to justify what is wrong in its totality to cash on the situation for some cheap political gain.

We wish to finally advise you to change your ways, before the entire people in the North, old and young, children and women are mobilized, to place their curse on you, Signed:

1. Usman Alhaji Musa – Yobe State

2. Sulaiman Idris Yusuf – Kano State

3. Aminu shehu – Jigawa State

4. Nura Abba Ali – Katsina State

5. Abdurrashid Sa’ad – Zamfara State

6. Muhammadu Bello – Kebbi State

7. Yakubu Abubakar – Sokoto State

8. Dr. Mu’ azu Tadama PhD – Kaduna State

9. Isma’il Alhassan Musa – Bauchi State

10. Maryam Adam – Gombe State

11.Muktar Abdul – Taraba State

12.Abdulhamid Musa – Adamawa State

13. Alh. Mai Tijjani – Borno State

14. Sabi’u Musa – Plateau State

15. Aliyu Dogara – Nassarawa State

16. Grace O. Ojochogwu – Kogi State

17. Mohammed kuta Muhammad – Kwara State

18. Shehu Idris – Niger State

19. Engr. Zakaria M. Zakaria – FCT

20. Oko Sunday – Benue State

21. Comrade Adikwu Omaji Joshua, National Publicity Secretary,

Abdulhafiz Garba, PhD, National Secretary

Ali Mohammed Idris, PhD, President.