The opposition Action Democratic Party (ADP) has cautioned President Muhammadu Bubari-led administration to stop giving preference to wealthy class in the society who do not pay taxes but enjoy benefits through contracts awards and other patronages.
The opposition party also warned that the federal government must not traumatise the ordinary citizens through punitive tax increases while some Nigerians he described as “big thieves” smile to the banks with billions of dollars continuously stolen from the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”
Aa statement signed in Abuja Tuesday by the ADP’s national chairman, Engr Yabagi Yusuf Sani, said the oil and gas sector which contributes more than 85 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings “is the most corrupt and blatantly operated in the most criminal manner with no metering infrastructure for transparency and accountability.
“It was reported in one of the national dailies on Monday, 3rd February, 2020) by the chairman of Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) that out of the USD20 billion unremitted by the NNPC to the Federation Account, the corporation is just remitting in piecemeal.
“Also the Attorney General of the Federation is in court with the International Oil Companies which have short-changed the country to the tune of over USD60billion.
“Last year, it was reported by an adhoc committee on oil and gas headed by the governor of Edo state under the National Economic Council that about USD1.5 billion was lost to crude oil theft in the first six months of 2019.
“In total about N30 trillion, about three times our 2020 National Budget is in the hands of thieves and the federal government is not signing any Executive Order to retrieve this money at all cost but instead busy chunking out draconian tax laws to further traumatize the poor Nigerian citizens to raise revenue at all cost to fund budget deficit.
“We also caution the government to avoid giving preference to the wealthy class in the society who do not pay taxes but enjoy benefits through contract awards and patronages in one form or the other.”
The ADP said it recognises the fact that taxes, especially non-oil taxes, are key to Nigeria’s sustainable economic growth since there can be no growth without taxes.
“However, the introduction of telecom tax, toll gate fees, e-commerce tax, hike in vehicle import tariffs, and removal of fuel subsidy and lately embarked on legislative steps to update provisions of major tax legislations amongst sundry options being explored to raise additional revenue to meet growing expenditure demands are misplaced priorities to Nigeria’s economic development.
“Nigerians may recall that only recently, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Finance Bill in 2019 into law. The Act seeks to amend seven extant fiscal laws, namely: the Customs and Excise Tariff Tax Act, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act, the Company Income Tax Act (CITA), the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, the Stamp Duty Act and the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Act in order to enhance their revenue generation potential for the country.”
The statement, however, recommended initiatives on stamping out graft in the oil and gas sector and other extra ordinary measures to return monies stolen by the IOCs to government to help fund the budget deficit and grow the economy at less pains to the common citizens.
“We warn that aggressive pursuit of revenue without taking due cognizance of their negative effects on the poor and the macroeconomic constraints facing businesses and consumers will have negative implications to the economy and reverse its recent slow growth trajectory after a depressive era.
“ADP considers that in spite of the amendment of various tax laws and applicable tax rates on personal income and those of enterprises, yet the effects of such measures are being hardly felt by the ordinary Nigerians.
“We however call on the federal government to ensure that monies recovered from the identified thefts in the Oil and Gas Sector and additional revenues being raked in from these ill advised and imposed taxes are committed to projects that will bear directly on the well-being of ordinary Nigerians.
