Nigeria Is A Poor Country With Potentials – Taiwo Oyedele

Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has classified Nigeria as a poor country with enormous potential for prosperity.

During an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today, Oyedele stated that both the federal government and the states’ budgets are very tiny in comparison to those of other countries and cities.

The Federal Government has faced criticism for what some see as excessive taxation, with recent tax legislation protests in Kenya reigniting the debate among Nigerians.

However, Oyedele opposed the idea of imposing additional taxes as a solution to Nigeria’s financial problems. He emphasised that raising taxes will not solve the country’s financial problems.

He said; “By the way, the entire budget, that’s the Federal Government’s of about N29 trillion plus all the states in Nigeria about N15 trillion – if you add it all, it comes to about N44 trillion. That’s around $30 billion.

“That $30 billion is even less than the budget of Kenya which is around $32 billion. It is barely a quarter of South Africa’s budget at $130 billion. And of course, it’s even less than the budget of New York City, not even just New York State. So, clearly, Nigeria is a poor country with the potential to be a wealthy country.

“So, we do believe based on the analysis we have done and the data available to us that the right way to go is not to introduce more taxes. And in fact, if you’re going to raise the rates of any tax, it has to be something that we’re doing as a result of the consolidation and harmonisation.

“We do think that having fewer taxes are broad-based, easy to collect, and do not place a burden on the bottom of the ladder of society is the way to go. And by using data, intelligence, and technology, we can close the tax gap so that people who have not been paying before begin to pay – who have been identified as people who should be paying – and the poor people should be legitimately exempted, particularly nano, micro businesses and low-income earners.

“And then we think that with all those, we can easily more than double our revenue within a period of two to three years.”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli