POLITICS
Ndume Opposes FG Proposed Upward Tax Review
By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja
The senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Mohammed Ali Ndume has spoken against plans by the Federal Government to review the tax regime of the country upward, stressing that such measures would impoverish Nigerians the most.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday, Senator Ndume explained that the Federal Government must get things right first, expand sources of income for Nigerians and ensure that the people are living and not surviving, before reviewing the taxes upward.
The former Leader of the Senate said the middle class of the country was gradually fading, as they were being squeezed out by the high inflation.
“This tax they’re talking about, we are almost losing the middle class in Nigeria. It is either you have it or you do not have it. Those that are in the middle are being squeezed out. If Nigerians can pay for those taxes, it is okay.
“But in the current situation, increasing taxes is not an alternative at all. I will not support any increase in tax.
“Let us get things right first. Let people start living and not survive. Let people have extra income, and then you can tax them. I like to use an example of common sense. Allow Nigerians to have enough blood in their body before you start asking for donation,” Ndume stated.
He said the managers of the economy want to make President Bola Tinubu look bad before Nigerians by proposing any increase in tax, while calling on the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and other managers to stop misleading President Tinubu.
Ndume, who recently appreciated President Tinubu for his de-dollarisation policy, said: “The poverty is too much in the north. Let us be frank about that. So, you want to increase taxes again? Tax those people who can afford it. Those who can afford the taxes in Nigeria, I do not want to be particular about it, are not even paying the taxes. These big companies do not even declare their income, not to talk of getting the appropriate taxes.
“I am one of those opposing that tax bill in the National Assembly. I am not going to support it. In fact, I am going to start campaigning against the increase in tax for now because it does not only affect the north but the average Nigerian.
“I am not saying people should not pay tax, but do not go and tax people that are barely struggling to survive. You are paying somebody N70,000 as a minimum wage, and all of a sudden, the price of fuel went up to N1,000. It means that if you put the arithmetic together, you see that you would have continued paying me the N30,000 and allow the litre of fuel to be N100.
“It is like giving you with one hand and taking it with the other hand. Let the tax authority focus on those who are supposed to pay tax. For example, in Abuja, if you go round, there are a lot of properties in there that are not paying taxes. Fortunately, you have Nyesom Wike who stands up to do something about it.
“People are not paying property taxes. These banks, for example, are making tons and tons of money, and they are not paying taxes. And they are collecting taxes. If you transfer money, they are collecting taxes. If you receive money, they are collecting taxes. And they declare profits. Go and check their taxes. Now you want to squeeze somebody who is barely trying to survive because there are many.
“You need to start from somewhere that is acceptable. I, at one time, proposed a bill for communication and phone owners to pay tax. It didn’t see the light of the day.
“You are talking about Abuja here. Many people do not have access to mobile phones. Anybody who can access a phone should be able to pay tax.”
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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