Immediate former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola has vowed to pioneer serious taxation for wealthy people in Nigeria, when he becomes a Minister of the Federal Republic.
He said this on Monday when he was being screened by the Senate.
The minister nominee said he was responding to the senator representing Abia central, Theodore Orji who asked for his view on multiple taxation and how it affects businesses.
“The truth is, Nigeria is a federation and I am a federalist. There is a limit to what we can do on taxation in the federation. I wouldn’t have loved to go into this because it is going to be controversial.
“We have left the rich men in Nigeria without discharging their responsibility to the citizens particularly on taxation.
“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 wont go deep into that.
“I will recommend serious taxation for wealthy people in Nigeria.
“If that will now translate to lifting the burden on the state and the local government to reduce the penchant for taxes that make poor people give from their inadequate resources, of course, I will be satisfied.
Aregbesola was the fourth ministerial nominee to be screened on Monday. Thirty one ministerial nominees, of the 43 sent by President Muhammadu Buhari, had been screened last week by the lawmakers.
“I am going to advocate a just taxation system,” he said.
Also, he said that rumours of owed salaries in Osun during his tenure was due to mischief and ignorance.
His words: “We (Osun State Government) ensured between July 2015 and July 2018 that public servants on level one to seven and they constitute about 72 per cent in the state earned their full pay, contrary to the belief that every civil servant was paid 50 per cent.”
“By 2014, our nation was in distress, and virtually all states had difficulty with salaries.
“We came up with an approach that there is no month that any public official did not have salary every month.”
Senator Elisha Abbo commenting on Aregbesola’s nomination said, “In 2012, when I contested for LG chairman in Adamawa, I visited you in Government House, Osogbo and you gave me your whole salary for that month. I confirm your nomination.”
Senator Surajudeen Bashiru said “As a commissioner in Aregebsola’s second term, my take-home pay in total was N184,000. None of the commissioners got an official car and I did not get official accommodation.”
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