President Bola Tinubu has said there is no going back on the tax reforms bills.
Tinubu, who stated this during a media chat in Lagos on Monday, said the tax reforms were necessitated by the need to eliminate colonial-based assumptions in the nation’s tax environment.
The Presidential Media Chat, Tinubu’s first, was aired on the Nigerian Television Authority Monday night.
These bills have sparked controversy since its inception with many northern governors kicking against it.
While the reforms have garnered support in the South as steps toward equitable resource distribution, stakeholders says resistance from the North reflects fears of marginalisation and economic disadvantage.
But the President stressed that tax reforms is pro-poor and aimed at widening the tax net, noting that it’s typical for tax reforms to be accompanied by outcries.
His words: “Tax reform is here to say. We cannot just continue to do what we were doing yesteryears in today’s economy.
“We cannot retool this economy with the old broken tools.
“The essence of the tax reform is to eliminate colonial-based assumptions in our tax environment. Every tax situation without outcry is not a tax.
“You cannot satisfy uniformly the larger community of tax evaders. This tax reform is pro-poor; the vulnerable are not to pay taxes. All we are asking for is to widen the tax net and bake the cake larger so that we can share a larger meal.
“They will still ask for this consultation no matter how long I delay it. The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to do what you have to do at the time it has to be done. That is my philosophy.”
Questioned about the economic hardship following the subsidy removal, the President said he had no regret as it had become necessary.
Petrol Subsidy removal
Tinubu said removing petrol subsidy was in a bid to save generations to come, noting that the country was already spending its future while giving freebies to neighbouring countries.
He also knocked calls for the phased removal of subsidies, saying the nation was headed for financial disaster.
With the subsidy removal, he said what was imperative was for Nigerians to manage within available resources and shun unnecessary expenses.
“What contingency? We were spending our future. We were spending our generations’ fortunes; we were not investing. We were just deceiving ourselves. That reform is necessary. I could see the smugglers fighting back; that doesn’t affect me.
“It affects smuggling. Why should you have expenditures that you don’t have revenue for? I don’t want to question people who have acquired limousine kind of vehicles on the road.
“We should teach management in all our programmes. We have to manage our resources within our means,” Tinubu states.
“There is no way that you give out fuel and allow all the neighbouring countries as Father Christmas. I don’t have any regret whatsoever in removing the subsidy. It is necessary. We cannot spend our future generations’ investments upfront.
“Phased removal is part of unnecessary fear. No matter how you cut it, you still have to meet the bills.
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“So cut your coat strictly to your size. Management is the issue and we have no choice but to pull the hand brakes, otherwise, we are headed for slippery slopes and in such financial disaster, not just for us, but for our children and grandchildren. Where is the pathway for prosperity?,” he adds.
The President further states that he is not ready to shrink his cabinet, saying all his appointees were adding value.
Declaring that Nigeria is a large country that needed a lot of hands, he said his appointees has specific assignments and what’s imperative is efficiency and effectiveness.
Inflation reduction in 2025 feasible- Tinubu
Tinubu said his plan in the 2025 budget proposal to reduce inflation from 34 per cent to 15 per cent would be realised by boosting local production and reducing imports.
“If one produces more for consumption locally, stop imports, give a reasonable level of funding and assistance, the low interest rate to farmers, improve the security as you see in the budget so that they can return to their farms and produce more food, encourage the procurement and manufacturing of drugs in Nigeria, we have what it takes.
“Talk to Professor (Ali) Pate, he is doing an excellent job trying to encourage. All I need to do is put the incentive in place in order for them to harness what is possible in Nigeria. It is about time we do all of those. Bring the cost of governance down,” he explained.
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