Abdullahi Sule: Subsidy Removal Raised Nasarawa 

IGR from N7bn to N30bn Yearly

Before stepping into politics, he led a thriving career as the Managing Director of Dangote Sugar, earning a reputation for innovation and strategic growth. As governor, he is applying his business acumen to streamline state operations, cutting waste and boosting efficiency. His leadership is focused on fostering economic growth, improving education, and modernising infrastructure. His unique blend of corporate know-how and political savvy is resulting in significant policy reforms, earning him widespread admiration across party lines. With second term in office, he is pained by some parents’ lackluster attitude towards their children who suffer inequality, hunger, deprivation, maltreatment, or no formal education and a poor bill of health occasioned by undignified treatment of the Almajiri child. Poised to make a difference in their lives, the Governor, of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi Sule speaks with Obinna Chima and Adedayo Adejobi, on the raging tax reform bills, the position of the northern governors on the proposed Value Added Tax computation, his 2025 appropriation bill recently presented to the State House of Assembly, his plan for the Alamajiris, and why his administration’s focus is on education, agriculture, mining and industrialisation. Excerpts:

T

he Tax Reform Bill remains a topical issue in the country. Some of your colleagues have weighed in on the matter with stiff opposition from some Northern governors. What is your position on the proposed legislations?

So many people don’t understand the tax reform bills, and talk less to have seen the bills. Some of the people talking about it don’t understand the position of the northern governors. It started from the northern governors’ meeting where after looking at the bills, realised some areas, especially with the Value Added Tax (VAT) and expressed our concerns. The bills contain four different areas of reforms, so it is not every of these areas that are of concern to the northern governors.  The northern governors only expressed concern with the area of VAT.

The area of VAT, according to the new tax reform bills, based on our understanding, it is going to take VAT out of federal allocation and by the time you take VAT out of the Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC), it is going to state that 60 percent of the amount to be generated through VAT which would be increased to 10 percent by the way, would go to the point of generation. We expressed concerns firstly about taking it out of federal allocation and secondly about allocating 60 percent of it. Most people arguing about these bills don’t understand VAT and who pays VAT. People think that the point of generation is the point of generating VAT, which is 100 percent wrong. In reality, the point of generation may have little contribution to the generation of the VAT, and I’ll give you a clear example – Abuja.  We have a company registered in Abuja that considers Abuja its head office. I am using Abuja as an example because I want to take Lagos out of this matter.

So, the company does all its businesses from the area of mining, processing what they mined and to the customer who buys what is being processed after mining. None of them is in Abuja. However, because the company is registered in Abuja, it pays its VAT in Abuja. So, it will be unfair to a State like Nasarawa if you say that 60 percent of that amount is going to go to the Federal Capital territory. So, we said let people seat down and understand these things because they are not talking to dummies. Among the State Governors, some of us had been Chief Executive Officers of quoted companies; we a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria among us, and other professionals who had managed reputable institutions before. With due respect, some of us have more experience than some of them who are debating and proposing the VAT under the tax reform bills. So, all we are asking is for them to withdraw the bills so that we can discuss them. When the bills were sent, the National Economic Council (NEC), of which we are members, was not informed about the bill nor the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), to the best of my knowledge, didn’t know about it. So, if these bills are wonderful for Nigeria, as they say, how come the NEC and some of us were not aware of something that important? That was why we said because of all these lapses, why don’t you withdraw it and we discuss it.

That became the crime of the northern governors. Our request for the bills to be withdrawn so we can discuss it and people are saying it shouldn’t be withdrawn. So, when people begin to react that way, then you begin to say that there may be something in this that we don’t understand. So, if you ask me if I am against the bills as a whole, I will say no. But all northern governors are against the aspect of VAT. We are not against the whole tax reform. Based on my background as someone who has worked in world-class companies building businesses, any new business does not like multiple taxation. This bill addresses multiple taxation, and as somebody who has worked in companies and has built businesses, I love bill for eliminating multiple taxation. I am deeply into agriculture and the bill is saying that henceforth, any importation of agricultural equipment will not attract taxation and VAT. I love the bill in that area because it is going to promote agriculture. I can list other good areas of the bill, but that doesn’t mean I cannot express concern over some other areas of the bill that are not clear- and one of the areas that remains questionable is the VAT aspect.

The bills have gone through Second Reading in the Senate and they are considering having a public hearing. If, at this stage, the concerns of VAT are addressed and amended, would you support its passage since you have highlighted some positive areas in the proposed legislations?

We are not against the bill in totality. We want it withdrawn so it can be discussed and people can understand it. Who knows, they might be able to convince us with facts- because I saw a very big joke yesterday on the television by an analyst who said, by the way, the north will even get more money for it. He thinks some of us are dummies and we can just take that home and say we love it. Okay, they say we are going to get more money, where is the money going to come from? Is anybody even thinking or asking where that money is coming from? Who will pay the money? He even said they would increase the VAT to 10 percent. Fantastic! Who is going to pay the 10 percent?  Will the manufacturer or producer pay the 10 percent? No! It’s the end user – the common man already crying about the hardship of the cost of living. If you had bought a phone at N200,000 or bag of rice at N90,000, when the VAT is increased, you will buy it higher because VAT is a consumer tax. As long as you consume, you keep paying.  So, are you interested in adding hardship to the people so that the State governments would get more money? No. These are the issues to be discussed. That was why I said the people presenting this do not have the experience that I have. Let me tell you, as the former Managing Director of Dangote Sugar, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, we import raw sugar and pay the VAT. However, the VAT is not necessarily paid directly to the government yet. We then refine the sugar, calculate the total amount of sugar produced, and then pay the VAT for that again. So, that is the net of that VAT that is paid to the government. Some of these people arguing cannot do the calculation if you ask them to do it. But they are just being pushed to comment on what they have limited knowledge about. That was why I keep saying that they are not talking to dummies. I was not a beneficiary of VAT, but a collector of VAT to remit to the government. So, I was not even enjoying VAT. Everyone knows that Dangote Group is one of the biggest collectors of VAT in this country because we do cement, sugar, flour, salt, and now petrol. And so this is the reality. Some people really misunderstand the whole item, and I feel bad when they make it a regional issue, like it is the north against the south or the south against the north.

In every aspect of this VAT, somebody somewhere would pay, the poor and rich will pay, so nobody takes credit. No state government is paid VAT before they remit it to the federal revenue.

But since the controversies started, have the Governors made moves to sit down with the President to review the item of concern in the bills?

The National Executive Council with all the 36 State Governors as members, have asked them to withdraw these bills, so we can have more discussions around it. Even though the Vice President and the Chairman of, the committee on Tax reform took the decision and sent it to the President, the President has said they should go to the National Assembly and defend it.

Now to Nasarawa, 18 months into your second tenure as Governor, what would you say are the major achievements of your administration?

The last 18 months have been fantastic. I must express great appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he intervened in subsidy removal. That helped in generating the revenue that we have so far generated in Nasarawa State today. We have achieved over 80 percent of our 2024 budget revenue in nine months. That’s the first time, so we had to go for a supplementary budget. Not only for operations but also for revenue, because we experienced far more revenue than we projected.

On our vision and the target, especially in various areas of agriculture, we stopped encouraging other people to go into agriculture and went into it ourself as a State eight months ago. We acquired about 10,000 hectares of land and started planting. We are about to finish harvesting our first 2,000 hectares of land of rice and now clearing an additional 2,000 hectares to plant on 4,000 hectares of land for the next farming season. We have bought many tractors because of the improved revenue. Throughout all these efforts, we did not borrow a penny from any bank.

Are you saying in the past five years as Governor you have not borrowed?

In the past five years, we did bond once, and it has been paid. We borrowed once to complement our efforts on the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and that has been paid. Since then, we have not borrowed any money. In the last 18 months since I started my second tenure, we haven’t borrowed anything. Today, we are building our first secretariat in the state where businesses will be developed. We have strengthened our investment company, held our investment summit, and commissioned three companies so far with two dealing in lithium and the other in tin

In the area of welfare, we have announced our minimum wage of N70,500. We have paid backlogs of gratuities from 2011. Pension payments for the state and the local government are also paid on time.

 On skills acquisition, we have completed an institute which has trained 8,000, students in various skills. Our skill acquisition is divided into three. We are training unemployed graduates in conjunction with ITF and NECA, and we give them packages to start life. We are training retirees that are strong enough to work in business, agriculture and information, communication technology. The vulnerable, disabled, and Internally Displaced Persons fall into the second category of people we are training and providing with startup funds. We are training people in our state and people from other states. In a bid to strengthen our tertiary, secondary schools, and primary education institutions, we have employed about 8,000 teaching and non-teaching staff. We are building infrastructure everywhere, opening up rural areas and developing the urban areas. What we have achieved in a year and six months would ideally take three years or more to achieve.

What do you owe to such success in record time? 

Improved revenue, and subsidy removal.

Our IGR has increased from N7 billion to N30 billion yearly.

So, what are the biggest challenges facing the state today?

We still have a few problems with security. Kidnapping is another concern. Youth unemployment and the Almajiri problem are issues we are tackling. We are not there yet in terms of revenue generation. I believe we can generate far more than what we’re generating at the moment because of the discovery of more minerals throughout the state.

You have made a bold statement in addressing the plight of the Almajiri system, a traditional, non-formal Islamic education system in northern Nigeria where children leave their homes to study with a teacher or Mallam. How do you plan to change the status quo, without, stepping on toes?

Anytime you say Almajiri, people conjure wrong impressions. Because I’m a scholar still learning Islam, I understand the problems. People use the opportunity of the Almajiri system to go and dump children unattended in the name of seeking Koranic education. They don’t know how the child feeds, what the child wears, where the child sleeps, and the health of the child. It is wrong. Being a learned scholar I can preach in Islam. Some people are misinterpreting certain areas of Islam-especially the issue of marriage. People misinterpret the fourth Surah which addresses weak and vulnerable women, children, and orphans.

Muslims believe the teachings of Islam that says one to marry one wife. But if you can afford more than one or four being the maximum, as long as you can afford it. But if you can’t be equitable to the four, marry only one. Most people who don’t read to the last Surah have been misled. To address this knowledge gap, we intend to build three institutions in Wamba, Lafia, and Nasarawa towns where they can have formal schools of Quranic and Western education – that way we can take them off the streets. The other one in Lafia will commence very soon. We are going to encourage organic education. When the school is operational, my dream is to be a part-time teacher there. We can teach them correct Quranic education. It is imperative to discourage people from continually bringing children into the world and cannot take care of them.

You recently presented your 2025 proposed budget to the State House of Assembly. Can you take us through the components and how you intend to use the fiscal document to address some of the challenges facing the State that you highlighted earlier?

 A chunk, over 20 percent of the budget goes to education, with some of the areas mentioned earlier. Another aspect of the budget is infrastructure. We have commenced many roads and other infrastructure, which we intend to complete. The budget also addresses opening the rural areas to cut down on post-harvest wastages, encourage. It also addresses information technology, to promote industrialisation, mining, and agricultural development. With my background in business development building businesses, we are unlocking opportunities, engaging communities, and attracting mining companies encouraging them through existing mining laws so that host communities and the State can benefit and both parties add value. When I came into office there was no oil exploration, but today, we have drilled an exploration well. Because we are busy with agriculture, and it’s very difficult to develop some of those, fields with no facility to take out the oil easily – we must develop the field and have a refining company that will refine the oil there. That’s why we are a bit slow on that.

Since you have cited insecurity as a challenge in the State, what efforts are you making to support the federal government in addressing this issue?

We have done a lot and will continue to do more when it comes to fighting insecurity. We continue to support the security agencies and create. We will continue to create understanding between the security agencies and the communities. We will continue to promote awareness among the people and provide the security agencies, with logistics and technology.

If you feel the pulse of the ordinary Nigerian, some feel they have made a mistake in voting for the President and your party at the federal level, what can you say about that?

It is for Nigerians to answer that. But as far as I’m concerned, the President has assisted in the area of reforms – these have been very beneficial to our State and, by extension, to the people of Nasarawa State. People can look at all the positive things and translate them to be negative.

 But the people are saying they are not feeling the effects of the reforms by the President and the President has also asked the citizens to demand more from the State Governors?

For us, everything we are doing is to address the pulse of the common man. I urge you to visit Lafia on your own. Don’t just take my word for it. Go around, ask people questions, and feel their pulse.