In what is gradually becoming an undisguised pattern of exploitation, the Federal Government, last week, imposed a levy of N1,000 on all motorists across the country as Proof of Ownership Certificate (PoC) verification. The new fee which is applicable to motorcyclists and motorists irrespective of their vehicle status was approved by the Federal Government through the Joint Tax Board (JTB). Promptly, the Lagos State government announced that it would start collecting the levy from this month. According to the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Abdulhafiz Toriola, the policy was designed to streamline and enhance the process of vehicle ownership verification across the country, and would aid better planning, security, and accountability within the country’s transportation network. The initiative, he added, was in accordance with Section 73 of the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012 as amended. The section provides that “There shall be Proof of Ownership Certificate for all registered Vehicles” and further added that ‘The commission shall establish and maintain a Central Data Base for Vehicles and drivers for the federation.”

He added: “To this end, the Federal Government has introduced the issuance of an annual Proof of Ownership Certificate for all registered vehicles. This certificate will serve as official documentation of a vehicle’s legal owners upon successful completion of the necessary requirements and procedures. The PoC will contain vital information, including the vehicle’s registration details such as licence number plate, model, year of manufacture and the owner’s name and address. Having critically reviewed the challenges encountered in ensuring promotion of safety and security of life and property through the issuance of PoC nationally and especially in our Dear state, the Joint Tax Board, in its communiqué issued at the end of the emergency meeting held on 9th May, 2023, adopted and made a resolution that proof of ownership certificate (PoC) be issued to motorists on an annual basis nationwide.”

Coming after the tripled increment in the cost of motor insurance, the removal of fuel subsidy without providing any palliatives and the plan to impose new electricity tariff on the Nigerian populace, the imposition of a N1,000 levy on a document that Nigerians previously processed along with other vehicle papers is decidedly mean, insensitive and provocative. It seems that in the euphoria of its assumption of office and the implementation of policies with adverse consequences on the lives of the distraught populace, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has chosen to forget that it is presiding over people and not cattle. In a country rated as the global capital of poverty, unemployment, out-of-school children, open defecation and worst electricity access, it is confounding that the administration thinks that taxing the people to death is the way to guarantee its prosperity. Pray, how does proof of ownership of a vehicle become something to be done every year as if the ownership of the vehicle changes every year and has to be reconfirmed annually in that respect? What is the value that the government gives to owners of vehicle in terms of proof of ownership that they have to pay for every year?

It is ridiculous to think, as the Federal Government argued, that the payment of an unconscionable PoC levy is what would track the real time status and guarantee the integrity of all vehicles registered on the National Vehicle and Identification Scheme (NVIS) database. Just how would the PoC “provide statistics of vehicular population nationwide”, “minimise car theft and recovery of stolen vehicles, and “streamline the fulfilment of the uniform licensing scheme mandate” when the existence of such data had not previously deterred car snatchers in any way? Is it that the statistics of vehicular population nationwide, say, did not exist before now? And just how will the payment of the levy suddenly cause the concerned security agencies to up their ante and tackle vehicular theft? Truth be told, the Federal Government’s latest move looks more like a wilful, negative use of the power of government. Imposing and collecting taxes just because you think you can sounds gross.

In truth, the government is just being callous in inflicting an unnecessary levy on the people for no just cause. For the avoidance of doubt, nobody would ordinarily be against the government seeking to improve its revenue base and expanding the tax net as government runs on taxation revenue anywhere in the world. But it is also the case that taxes result from production, such that any interest in tax expansion would have to start from expansion in production and not on the imposition of unnecessary taxes on the people. The way the government is looking for tax revenue without facilitating increase in production suggests that it would not mind taxing citizens for a living and taking them out of existence. We ask it to be conscious of the deleterious effects of prohibitive taxes on citizens and the fact that their capacity to continue to bear such is not elastic.

The possibility of excessive taxation igniting negative reaction from citizens is always there and it is important for government to realise this and not continue to push for the imposition of taxes for their own sake. We simply cannot and do not see the justification for a yearly levy of proof of ownership on vehicles when ownership does not change annually.

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