Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has said the Federal Government should expand Nigeria’s tax base rather than introduce additional taxes on citizens.
Gatekeepers News reports that Sowore made the remarks during an interview on AIT on Saturday, arguing that the government could increase revenue by ensuring that individuals and businesses liable to pay taxes fulfil their obligations.
“We are not going to introduce tax, but we would expand the tax base,” he said.
The activist noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio was relatively low compared with that of some other African countries, including Ghana. He argued that improving tax collection and bringing more eligible taxpayers into the system would help the government generate additional revenue.
Sowore said people earning taxable income should contribute their fair share to enable the government to provide public services.
“As long as you are making money,” he said, eligible earners should pay taxes to support government responsibilities.
He also questioned why the government continued to look towards taxation to raise revenue while, according to him, substantial sums remained unpaid to the Nigerian state.
Sowore claimed that oil companies owed Nigeria more than $62 billion in unpaid royalties. He alleged that some companies had received oil blocks and generated billions of dollars without paying the royalties due to the government.
The AAC candidate called for the recovery of the alleged outstanding payments, arguing that the money could be used to finance infrastructure projects, construct schools and reduce the cost of governance.
“Royalties are taxes too,” he said, maintaining that unpaid royalties should be treated as part of the country’s broader revenue collection efforts.
He urged the government to prioritise recovering outstanding public revenue and improving compliance instead of placing additional financial pressure on citizens already facing economic challenges.
Sowore’s comments come amid ongoing discussions about Nigeria’s tax reforms and efforts to improve government revenue. Federal Government has said its policy focus includes expanding economic activity, improving revenue administration and addressing inefficiencies.
The activist’s proposal centres on widening the tax base, enforcing existing tax obligations and recovering unpaid royalties as alternative ways of increasing government revenue.
