…Says, ‘Rich Nigerians must pay more taxes’
…Mandates FG to implement free, compulsory education
From: FRED ITUA, Abuja
The Senate has thrown its weight behind the position of the Federal Government that rich Nigerians should pay more taxes.
According to the upper legislative chamber, people who earn higher must pay taxes on luxury goods.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over Tuesday’s legislative business, said the rich must pay more taxes, while poor Nigerians should pay less. He said with more money in government’s confers, more Nigerians would be lifted out of poverty.
His words, “In other countries of the world, governments make deliberate efforts to get their people out of poverty. This is the practice all over the world. Nigeria should not be different. We need to provide for our people and get them out of poverty.
“There are so many ways we can achieve this. Government needs to implement policies that will take us out of poverty. One of them is the issue of taxation. The rich need to pay more taxes, while the poor should pay less. When the rich pay more taxes, there will be enough money to get our people out of poverty.
“We have our able youths who are jobless, despite the fact that they are educated. This cannot continue. We need to provide jobs for our youths and take them off the streets. As a parliament, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that this is achieved,” Ekweremadu said.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun had, while addressing newsmen at the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, on Sunday, said Nigerians with higher incomes must bear greater parts of the tax burden.
In a motion to commemorate the United Nations International Day for the eradication of Poverty and sponsored by Ali Wakili and 22 other lawmakers, the Senate noted that according to a recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), no fewer than 112 million Nigerians, representing 67.1 per cent of the country’s estimated population, now live below the poverty level.
But some senators, who spoke, disagreed with the report.
Sen. Shehu Sani, from Kaduna State, said more than 80 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty level. He said successive governments, including President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, have not done enough to implement programmes that will lift Nigerians out of poverty.
Sen. Jibrin Barau from Kano State described poverty as ‘a weapon of mass destruction’. He said China, in the last 20 years, had lifted more 300 million of its citizens out of poverty. He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to do more and implement social programmes that woukd uplift the living conditions of Nigerians.
Lawmakers, after a brief debate, called on the Federal Government to declare free education at every level. It also urged that policies and programmes evolved by the Federal Government through the Social Investment Programmes and other poverty alleviation and eradication measures be vigorously pursued.