Dr. Usman Bugaje, the former National Secretary of the defunct Action Congress (AC) has criticized Nigeria’s political culture, calling it a contradiction of good governance principles, expressing concerns about the Tax Reform Bills submitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, during an interview with VANGUARD.
Bugaje acknowledged President Tinubu as a man surrounded by individuals out of touch with Nigeria’s realities.
He pointed out flaws in the tax reform proposals, particularly their inability to address the country’s economic challenges effectively.
According to Bugaje, the team behind the nearly 300-page bills seemed disconnected from the struggles of ordinary Nigerians.
While there were efforts to ease taxation for citizens, critical gaps remain.
For instance, terms like attribution and derivation are undefined in the bills, leading to potential confusion.
Bugaje suggested discarding the current bills and starting afresh with a framework tailored to Nigeria’s unique challenges.
He underlined the importance of broadening the tax base, ensuring fairness, and addressing economic disparities.
The former AC leader compared Nigeria’s situation to São Paulo, Brazil, 25 years ago, where governance failures led to extreme inequality and warned that Nigeria could face similar issues if current trends continue.
“Now, the team that crafted this nearly 300-page tax reform bills, I have had to engage with Mr. (Oyedele) Taiwo, at least I shared a platform with him on this discussion. It doesn’t appear that this team really understands the society for which that policy is made. It looks very much like some comfortable professionals living in Lagos or Abuja. They have no idea of the consequences of what they are really proposing.”
“My own thinking is for these tax reform bills to be thrown into the dustbin completely and then a (new) process started. I appreciate tax reforms. I think we should broaden the net because there are many people who are supposed to be paying tax that are not paying,” he said.
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