Omoyele Sowore, the Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will soon become the richest man in the country.
He accused the president of planning to use a tax consulting firm linked to him to collect taxes on behalf of the federal government, in turn, the firm will collect some commission.
This will make the president richer than any other Nigerian, the human rights activist said during the recent Eid el Kabir celebrations get-together with the members of his party.
According to Bloomberg’s latest report, business mogul Aliko Dangote is Nigeria and Africa’s richest man with wealth estimated at over $15 billion.
Tinubu, a former Lagos governor has been accused of using a proxy tax collection firm Alpha Beta, to enrich himself, in and out of office, even though he denied the allegation.
After coming to office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has not let anyone in doubt that an effective tax system will be one of the policy thrusts of his administration.
On Friday, the president approved the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms headed by Taiwo Oyedele, a foremost tax expert at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, PwC.
Sowore suggests that the president’s focus on taxation as the fulcrum of his government is for selfish reasons to make him rich, warning that Nigerians are becoming poorer every day as a result of the burden of taxation imposed by the administration.
According to him “The consultant they are bringing will be collecting the tax on behalf of Federal government and they are going to be collecting 10 percent from the taxes they collect on behalf of the Federal government.
“They would be the richest people in the world by the time Tinubu has done four years. Our position is unambiguous and unapologetic. This is not our government. We have accepted that our job is to liberate this country not to go and work for somebody and lose our focus and direction.”