By Merit Ibe   

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has faulted the Federal Government for always turning attention to the private sector as scapegoat by increasing the number of taxes borne by the sector in offsetting Nigeria’s huge debt.

The National President, Ide John Udeagbala, said  Nigeria’s huge debt profile has shown that its revenue will go to servicing debt in line with International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection on Nigeria’s economy.

Udeagbala said currently, there is no doubt that the national budget is heavily skewed towards recurrent expenditure that is largely unmet by the estimated government revenue gain. With this, Udeagbala counselled all levels of government to consider other sources of funding, such as a leveraging public-private-partnerships for tax credits spread over time rather than always introducing fresh taxes to the private sector as short corners to increase government’s revenue base generation in the country.

“The economy cannot run based on increasing the number of taxes borne by the private sector, as we have witnessed by recent laws passed by the National Assembly. We advocate policies that systematically and consistently increase the tax base in terms of the volume of production or the number of tax payers.

“Such advocacy has begun to bear fruit in collaborations such as the Joint Tax Board’s engagement of the private sector in the implementation of the Single Inter-State Road Tax, an initiative that will expand the tax base of the government without putting undue pressure on existing tax payers.

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“We also counsel that the Executive and Legislature make concerted efforts to reduce the cost of governance as a way to reduce the pressure to run government based on debt.”

The NACCIMA helmsman also explained that the private sector was ready to work with government in Public-Private Partnerships in the accelerated implementation of policies such as the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), Executive Order 005 on the promotion of Nigerian content in contracts and science, engineering and technology, and the extension of TETFUND to establish vocational training institutes.

According to him, such a partnership could involve the establishment of

training institutes within private-sector-owned industrial factories and workshops to provide theoretical and practical training for Nigerians, a project which NACCIMA is willing to embark on with government, given its geographic spread.

He said, “NACCIMA remains committed to working with government at all levels, other private sector stakeholders to reduce unemployment by providing training and jobs opportunities.”