Tax Reform Bills: Northern Youths Stage Solidarity Rally For Barau 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

Youths across the 19 northern states of the country staged a solidarity rally on Tuesday in support of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, who they described as the ‘Sardauna of our era.’

The peaceful rally was held at the entrance of the National Assembly, Abuja, with the youth singing the praises of the Deputy President of the Senate.

According to them, the rally was organised to warn those attacking the Deputy President of the Senate over last Wednesday’s resolution of the Senate.

Barau presided over last Wednesday’s plenary when the lawmakers passed a resolution to allow tax reform experts access to the chamber of the Senate to make presentations during plenary on the Tax Reform Bills.

Barau had, during the plenary, said the experts, including the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, should be allowed to educate the senators and Nigerians on the Tax Reform Bills.

They were armed with banners with various inscriptions including ‘Senator Barau: The Sardauna of our era’; ‘Senator Barau is the new leader of the North’, ‘Stop attacking Senator Barau’; ‘Leave Senator Barau alone’, and ‘Senator Barau: The pro-masses lawmaker’.

They said Barau remains the best senator in the north, given his sponsorship of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) Bill.

A former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Tijjani Kabiru Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of the protesting youths, said the Deputy President of the Senate has neither supported nor kicked against the Tax Reform Bills, instead, he pushed for the sensitization of Nigerians.