Budget Office DG, Akabueze pushes for tax from Nigeria’s billionaires to aid funds generation

The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, on Monday urged wealthy Nigerians to pay more tax in order to enhance revenue generation in the country.

Akabueze, who made the call at the launch of the World Bank’s report titled: “Nigeria public finance review: fiscal adjustment for better and sustained results,” said wealthy Nigerians should be made to pay taxes that are commensurate with their earnings.

He said: “We need to tax the rich. We have extremely wealthy people existing side-by-side with extremely poor people. I describe it as an ‘elite conspiracy’ not to distribute a fair share of the nation’s resources.

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“If you own a private jet, that is fantastic. If you buy one for yourself, buy one for the country by paying 100 percent tax on it. This is not an area of debate.

“Certain sectors that are growing very well also need to pay taxes. The creative and media– you have all these folks assaulting us daily with the show of their new cars.

“I don’t see any other option. We have to tax the rich. They should pay taxes commensurate with their earnings.”

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