Aregbesola calls for ‘just taxation’ on wealthy Nigerians

Ebun Francis|

A former governor of Osun State and a ministerial nominee, Rauf Aregbesola has pledged to push for ‘just taxation’ on wealthy Nigerians if confirmed by the Senate.

Aregbesola, one of the 43 ministers recently appointed by President Muhamadu Buhari made the pledge while being grilled by Senators on Monday.

Asked by lawmakers what his attitude (to taxation) will be, for businesses to grow, Aregbesola said he would pioneer ‘privilege taxes’ for those who have huge resources, implying that billionaires will pay a lot more in taxes than they currently do.

“I will advocate for a just taxation system that will bridge the inequality in the system,” he said.

Defending his eight-year tenure as governor of Oun state, Aregbesola told the Senators that the disparity in the payment of salaries during his reign in Osun State was stopped before his tenure came to an end last year.

He said, “The narrative on salary is mischievous and based on ignorance. No one (can) say the Nigerian economy did not experience a huge downfall.

“Personnel cost alone was 63%. Osun was taken out of Oyo. There is a historical background about it. I was there to do interesting balancing. I had to constitute a panel to monitor all revenue inflow and apportion what is left to salaries which we did innovatively.

“I never owed staff from level one-to-nine. It was only officers in level 12 and above that had to earn half their salary.

“We came up with an approach that there is no month that any public official did not have salary every month.”