How President Buhari, his government robbing poor Nigerians

Editor’s note: Muhammadu Buhari during the last year presidential campaign promised to change the life of Nigerians. However, David O. Kuranga, political and economic analyst, claims that Buhari’s government is stealing from poor Nigerians.

How Buhari made the cost of living on the average person unbearable

The APC administration under President Buhari has embarked on a decisive quest to rob poor Nigerians of their basic sustenance and make the cost of living on the average person unbearable.

While understandably, the government needs to raise internal revenue in Nigeria, outside of petroleum, it is not necessary that the government raise this revenue on the backs of poor Nigerians while refusing to require Nigeria’s wealthy to pay anything more whatsoever. The APC during their campaign pretended to be a “progressive” party of the common man, but since they have taken power, their fangs and devil horns have unmasked themselves and their demonic vendetta to rob poor Nigerians.

A nation-wide tariff or tax on electricity of 45%

First the APC-led government under President Buhari, through the power ministry led by former Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, chose to implement a nation-wide tariff or tax on electricity of 45%.

Needless to say, implementing taxes such as this indiscriminately nationwide, raises the cost of living on everyone, including those who can afford to pay and those who–most certainly–cannot. It is a prime example of a regressive taxation policy that has a greater impact on the poor and laboring classes than it does on the wealthy.

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Such massive hikes in basic power costs like this, is so damaging and regressive that it is even a violation of agreed UN global standards, to which Nigeria is party and a signatory. Labour unions across Nigeria have been out in force protesting the developments and calling for the Minister of Power to repeal the power tax increases.

A nationwide 50 naira stamp tax on all deposits over 1000 naira

Second the Central Bank of Nigeria, implemented a nationwide 50 naira stamp tax on all deposits over 1000 naira. These taxes are collected from every Nigerian that owns a bank account and makes regular deposits, irrespective of the size of the individuals account, total annual earnings or any other safeguards. Needless to say again, implementing fees such as this is yet another prime example of a regressive taxation policy that has a far greater impact on the poor market women, common street hawkers, okada, trike, and danfo drivers, merely depositing their meagre days earnings. By dipping into their earnings every time they make deposit the CBN discourages them from using banks, recording their income, paying taxes, and becoming bankable businesses and self-employed persons with verifiable income.

Let’s call them All Regressive Congress

Let me be very clear, regressive taxation measures are not the only means for the government to increase revenue. There are many progressive tax schemes that they could have been implemented by now. Progressive tax measures to target the elite in Nigeria with (mansion taxes, luxury car & vehicle taxes, luxury foreign goods taxes, dollar hoarding taxes, among other measures). However the administration has not so much as lifted a finger to implement any of these measures despite the fact that Nigeria is among the most unequal nations in the world in terms of wealth inequality. With all things being considered, let’s stop call them the (APC), All “Regressive” Congress (ARC) is demonically pushing such damaging regressive policies all while shunning progressive measures protecting the nation’s elite who are part of the problem hoarding dollars and foreign exchange! Just like the PDP, the ruling party in Nigeria today is equally as elitist, class insensitive, and completely aloof to the hardship that the masses in Nigeria face, from the office of the president down. The compound impact of this systematic theft of the nation’s poor will have the identical impact on the masses in Nigeria as if the government continued stealing and pocketing oil revenue.

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The author is the managing director and principal of Kuranga and Associates, a full-service investment, political and economic risk consultancy, and asset management firm that specializes in Africa. He is also the author of The Power of Interdependence with Palgrave Macmillan Press.

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