Buhari writes Senate, seeks passage of amended Finance Bill 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate requesting that the amended Finance Bill 2022 be considered for passage into law.

Buhari’s letter was read by Ahmed Lawan, the Senate president during plenary on Tuesday.

The amended Finance Bill 2022 presented to the National Assembly seeks to support the ongoing implementation of the 2023 federal budget by proposing key reforms to specific taxation, customs, excise, fiscal and other relevant laws. Some of the provisions of the bill include – enhancing tax equity by bringing more economic sectors into the tax net and ensuring a fairer distribution of revenue receipts to all tiers of government; supporting job creation through sustained economic growth in partnership with key international development finance institutions and other multilateral agencies; increase funding to the education sector through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

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Others propose minor but essential reforms to enable the board of directors and governing council of the ministry of finance (incorporated) to fulfil their respective mandates; implement important corporate tax incentives’ reforms, and enhance revenue generation and administration through various fiscal measures.

Buhari said: “Recall that I was unable to assent to the Finance Bill 2022 presented to me on December 30, 2022, due to various reasons at that time. I directed the minister of finance budget and national planning to engage with the National Assembly to review key areas of concern and produce a consensus amended Finance Bill 2022 that harmonised the respective views of both the executive and the legislature.

“Accordingly the resulting amended Finance Bill 2022 produced pursuant to this reconciliatory engagement remains maternally aligned with the earlier Finance Bill, 2022 that was considered by the National Assembly,” Buhari said.