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The war on corruption can be won within 6 months – Emir Sanusi

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The war on corruption can be won within 6 months - Emir Sanusi

Former CBN Governor and current Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, says that if the Federal Government introduced appropriate sanctions for corruption cases, with the media providing the needed support monitoring mechanism, the war against corruption could be won within six months.

He noted that corruption has seen some individuals and corporate bodies hide under the guise of tax haven to avoid paying tax, a situation that has seen Nigeria lose more than 30 per cent of its tax revenue annually.

He was speaking on Wednesday, in Ibadan, through Alhaji Shehu Mohammed, the Sarkin Shanun Kano, at an International Conference on Tax Havens and the Developing World: The Global Dimension, organised by Centre for General Studies in collaboration with office of International Programmes, University of Ibadan (UI).

Sanusi identified lack of discipline and non-evaluation of corruption cases as some of the major problems facing the country, adding that policymakers were yet to find a solution to the high level of corruption in Nigeria .

On the effect of corruption on tax collection and administration, the emir noted that the sector is the most affected by the vice.

Read also: Senate fumes, issues appearance ultimatum to Glo, others, over role in N30trn revenue loss

“The biggest problem affecting tax payment compliance in many developing economies, including Nigeria, is the manipulation of the system , such that expected revenue from internally-generated revenue is never met,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, had equally lamented the inability of government to meet its projections from internally-generated revenue, adding that it is only Lagos that accounts for over 50 per cent of Value Added Tax ( VAT) in Nigeria.

According to her, on yearly basis, only 25 per cent of taxable adults and less than 40 per cent of corporate organisations are tax-compliant.

But the international creditor institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and AfricaN Development Bank (AfDB), have maintained that the country should increase its revenue drive to improve on its cash-strapped economy.

 

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