•Says only campaign promise Tinubu fulfilled in two years is expanding tax net and reducing purchasing power of Nigerians

By PETER ANOSIKE

A chieftain of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nelson Ahamefula Akuma, has raised alarm over the proposed 5% on fuel, saying that it would worsen the poverty rate in the country.

He said that the only campaign promise that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has fulfilled since he was sworn in is his promise of expanding the tax net and reducing the purchasing power of the Nigerian people.

According to him, implementing a new 5% tax on items such as fuel in Nigeria could potentially increase hunger and suffering by triggering a cascade of negative economic effects, including higher food prices, reduced purchasing power, and increased operational costs for businesses.

He said that the former Vice President,Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was right when he said that President Bola Tinubu had shown no capacity to address the acute hunger and suffering in the Country since he came into office.

According to him, all that the reforms of the president has being doing is pushing Nigerians further down into worsening poverty and insecurity.

Speaking further, he said that the president should withdraw the 5% tax and other draconian policies he is dishing out in the name of reforms.

His words: “No matter the lie that the presidency is trying to tell you about the 5% fuel tax, it is going to negatively affect the Nigerian populace, especially the ordinary masses. The tax would increase cost of food and other goods. A tax on fuel would directly impact the transportation sector, leading to higher costs for moving food and other goods from farms to markets across the country. In Nigeria, where inflation is already a major concern, producers and vendors would likely pass these increased costs on to consumers, making food and other basic necessities more expensive and exacerbating the existing food security crisis. I have said on different for a that civil servants are now worse off even with the so-called minimum wage increment because of the high inflation which the removal of subsidy and devaluation of the Naira has brought to us. So for low-income Nigerians, who spend a larger percentage of their earnings on food and transportation, the 5% tax would further erode their purchasing power. With less disposable income, families would be forced to cut back on essential expenses, potentially leading to malnutrition and increased hunger. This effect is particularly damaging in a country with a significant portion of its population living below the poverty line.”

Akuma also said that the new tax regime would lead to higher operational costs for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to him, a recent report has it that more than 80 million Nigerian youths are unemployed.

He said that with the new tax regime, unemployment is going to worsening because business owners would face higher operational costs from the increased fuel prices, adding that this could force some businesses to reduce staff, stop paying salaries, or even close down, leading to job losses and further economic hardship.

According to him, even in the agricultural sector, farmers would face higher expenses for running machinery and transporting their produce, which would likely be reflected in higher food prices.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no future under this government. In fact, the country is headed to the wrong direction, that is the reason why ADC has come to rescue the country from the mess it is currently in. So, like the other of my interviews I am still appealing to Nigerians to take advantage of the window of the current nationwide voter registration exercise to get their permanent voters card and get ready to vote out the APC government in 2027.”