Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has urged the federal government to avoid imposing additional tax burdens on low-income citizens.
Reports indicate that the national assembly is considering a bill to raise value added tax (VAT) from 7.5 percent to 10 percent by 2025, with a further increase to 12.5 percent planned for 2026 through 2029.
Speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television program, Ndume expressed strong opposition to increasing taxes that would impact the poor. Instead, he suggested that the government focus on collecting taxes from wealthy individuals and corporations, noting that millions of Nigerians are already struggling to make ends meet and cannot bear further tax increases.
“We are almost losing the middle class in Nigeria. It is either you have it or you do not have it. Those that are in the middle are being squeezed out,” he said.
“If Nigerians can pay for those taxes, it is okay. But in the current situation, increasing taxes is not an alternative at all. I will not support any increase in taxes.
“Let us get things right first. Let people start living and not surviving. Let people have extra income.
“The north has more poverty, so if you want to increase taxes again, let’s be considerate. Tax those people who can afford it. Those who can afford the taxes in Nigeria are not even paying for them.
“I’m going to start campaigning against the increase in tax for now because it doesn’t only affect the northerners, it affects the average Nigeria. I’m not saying people should not pay tax but don’t tax people that are barely surviving.
“Let the tax authority concentrate on those that are supposed to pay tax.”
Nigeria has been grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades since President Bola Tinubu unfurled a raft of reforms in 2023.
