Prince Adewole Adebayo, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general election, has described the tax policies of President Bola Tinubu as the worst in the history of tax administration in the country.
According to him, in a dysfunctional government like Nigeria, one should not be surprised to see a dysfunctional tax system as it is presently being operated.
Adebayo who was special guest made the statement at the 2024 annual dinner and awards of The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria at the weekend in Lagos.
He said it was a false narrative by the APC-controlled government that higher revenue through taxation means development.
He explained; “Taxation is one of the major ways the government is funded. Tax is a government function. Unfortunately, the government has been dysfunctional over time. In a dysfunctional governmental system, the tax system will also be dysfunctional. They are not right in their tax policies and fiscal and monetary management. They are not right in many aspects of social delivery. Unfortunately, this is the best they know.
Revenue is one of the functions of taxation. The taxpayer is like a blood donor. You don’t drain all the blood in his body. Otherwise, he will die. Moderate the management of taxation and imposition of levies so that there would be disposable income to use in developing the country. Higher revenue that will kill industries, kill initiatives, and further pauperize the people is not taxation. It is your responsibility to advise those who are responsible for taxation that higher revenue is not the only success story.”
Taxation, Adebayo emphasised, must be used to foster development, distribute wealth from those who have too much to those who don’t have, to train the next generation of taxpayers by getting education and social services.
He added, “A good taxation system, according to him, should encourage business growth, which automatically brings about employment and which will increase productivity and ultimately increase the level of taxation in the country.
“There are many ways you can help to be a better society. Taxation is not just only about revenue. It can be used as a value for the country. You can give incentives to activities you want people to engage in. You can use taxation to distribute and redistribute wealth in society to be more equitable. You can use it as a stimulus when there is an economic crisis. It can be used to discipline when we are misbehaving in any aspect of our lives. Taxation is used to control inflation and to manage public expenses. It can be used to better the lives of the citizens by providing infrastructure and basic social services.
“A society that has a good tax system will have a hard working citizens because the real wealth of a country is when people work hard enough and then spare some contribution to society. Taxation is the foundation of any economy, and Nigeria is not an exception. However, you cannot make omelette without breaking the egg, but when you break the egg and people are not seeing the omelette, that’s when they begin to wonder where the egg is. That is the question to answer for the people who are responsible for the management of our resources.”
In his short speech, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who was the special guest of honour, said no society and government succeed without taxation.
He stated, “Any country that closes its eyes to taxation is doomed. Countries exist without oil or other natural resources except though taxation and they farewell than some countries with mineral resources. That was where we started , and that is where we will return”, he stated.
In his opening speech, the host and president of the institute, Mr Samuel Agbeluyi said, “it was a thing of joy that society and particularly government, at all levels, are beginning to take taxation seriously even as he expressed gratitude to the federal government for the current tax reform bill presently with the national assembly.”
