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The rich must be taxed mercilessly to solve problem of poverty in Nigeria —Aregbesola

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The rich must be taxed mercilessly to solve problem of poverty in Nigeria —Aregbesola

The Minister of Interior, Raif Aregbesola has said that if the rich failed to address the problem of poverty in Nigeria, that their comfort would be taken away.

Nigeria has since been ranked as the World capital of people living under extreme poverty.

And Aregbesola said that for the country to solve the problem of poverty, there was need for the few rich to be taxed ‘mercilessly’.

The former governor of Osun State spoke at the 70th birthday of Abiola Ajimobi, the immediate past governor of Oyo state.

Ajimobi clocked 70 on December 16, 2019.

Aregbesola said, “We must mercilessly tax the rich, if we are to cure the problem of poverty. We have two contending forces, the poor and the privileged rich,” he said.

“The rich have no problem, they are comfortable. The problem is the poor and they are in the majority. And the point is if the rich failed to address this problem, the comfort of the rich will be taken away, so they must release much of their money to help the poor.

READ ALSO: VP Osinbajo admits Nigeria still far behind in poverty eradication

“We have left the rich men in Nigeria without discharging their responsibility to the citizens, particularly on taxation,” he said.

“So, I am going to pioneer privilege taxes for those who have huge resources or wealth from which Nigerians must tap. If I go into this, there might be some ill feelings in some quarters, so I won’t go deep into that. I will recommend serious taxation for wealthy people in Nigeria.”

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