Much Ado About Tinubu’s Tax Reforms -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

Elementary Economics teaches us that taxation is one of the government fiscal instrument to control and regulate the economy. It is not just a means of revenue generation but a means of regulating the economy depending on the state of it. We are told that when the economy is in the doldrums as the Nigeria economy is right now taxes are supposed to be low in order to increase the purchasing power of the people to stimulate higher investment and production. Since the coming of the Tinubu’s government, the application of the monetary and fiscal instruments seems to be on trial-and-error basis without any clear direction. There is price instability with galloping inflation, declining local production, high and soaring unemployment rate with increasing tariff on goods and services and the government is increasing taxes instead of doing the opposite.

The Tinubu government’s stand on the supposed tax reform has generated suspicion and insinuations from different quarters. For instance, why would the government be more interested in increasing the tax net instead of the welfare of the citizenry? What use has the government put the savings from subsidy removal and the borrowings from international multilateral agencies? No citizen would want to evade tax if the tax revenue is used for the common good. While it is a civic duty for the citizens to pay tax, I think the citizens who pay the taxes deserve the right to know to what use their taxes are put. This means that the government should be prudent and accountable to the citizens at all times. A profligate government that waste tax payers’ money on frivolities does not have the right to impose a tax burden on the people.

Clearly, the import of the Tinubu’s supposed tax reform is beginning to dawn on the people with the latest declaration by the agents of the government that beginning from next year that the citizens of Nigeria will require tax identification number to carry out legitimate transaction and to operate their bank account. Many Nigerians are not surprised; from the onset, the Nigerian people were skeptical about the intentions of the government concerning the vexed tax reform issue.

The tax reform bill was passed without adequate consultation and input from the people fuelling the speculation that members of the National Assembly were “settled” to pass the controversial bill into law. It will have a cataclysmic effect on the nation when a heavy tax burden is imposed on the already impoverished people.

As a Nigerian who lives in Diaspora and pays tax on goods and services that I enjoy, I know the importance of taxation and the implication of tax evasion. So, it would be hypocritical for me to discourage the payment of taxes. But, at the same time it would be wrong for me to encourage taxing people living in misery and want as most Nigerians are at present. Statistics from the international rating agencies indicates that over 60% of Nigerians are living below the internationally recognized poverty threshold. So why is the Tinubu government’s fixation on taxes instead of poverty alleviation and welfare enhancement? The state of economic infrastructure in the country is nothing to write home about. The Nigeria citizens do everything including security for themselves instead of the government and that is the main reason behind aversion for taxation.

Since coming to power in May 2023, the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done virtually nothing to create the right environment for business and meaningful economic activities to thrive. All we read and hear are empty rhetoric from government agents, media propaganda and sponsored write-ups about non-existent reforms that are sapping the life out of the common citizens. It is therefore not wrong for anyone to assert that Tinubu and his team in APC has neither the capacity nor the willingness to work to improve the lot of the embattled Nigerian people. Without fear of contradiction, I will say that there is nothing on the ground (policies, programs or projects) to show that the government has plans to work for the common good.

Undoubtedly, if Tinubu is interested in growing the economy of Nigeria, he would not start from imposing taxes on people that are gasping for life breath. If a patient is on life support, you don’t remove the life-support and then begin to apply medication without accurate diagnosis. Tinubu and his team obviously don’t know the problems of Nigerian economy. They are obviously distracted by interests other than that of the Nigerian people. And as I have always maintained, Tinubu’s interest is to sustain his strangle hold on power. And as the year 2026 beckons, let us watch and see how tax issues work out.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed 

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK