Obi to FG: Tax Policy Must Make Nigerians Wealthier, Not Poorer

Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has faulted Nigeria’s new tax direction, warning that economic recovery cannot be achieved by placing heavier burdens on citizens already struggling to survive.

In a statement shared on his official X handle on Friday, Obi argued that meaningful development is built on trust, transparency and national consensus, not policies that deepen hardship.

Drawing from his engagements with global leaders, he said societies that record lasting progress are led by governments that are honest with their people. According to him, “true leaders do not exploit their people to enrich themselves and a few cronies; they build trust, unity, and shared purpose.”

Obi said Nigeria’s current tax conversation must be measured against this standard of leadership, stressing that taxation should function as a genuine social contract rooted in fairness and concern for citizens’ welfare.

He maintained that any tax policy must be clearly explained, including how it affects incomes and how it will contribute to development, warning that without transparency, taxation becomes “a tool of confusion and burden rather than a mechanism for growth.”

He insisted that economic growth cannot be driven by revenue collection alone, noting that the real purpose of fiscal policy is to make citizens wealthier so the nation itself can grow stronger.

“You cannot tax your way out of poverty — you must produce your way out of it,” Obi said, adding that empowering small and medium-sized enterprises remains the most sustainable way to expand the tax base naturally through job creation and rising incomes.

The former Anambra State governor also expressed concern over what he described as a troubling controversy surrounding the new tax law, saying it was alarming that a tax legislation was allegedly forged.

Obi noted that the National Assembly had acknowledged that the version gazetted was different from what was passed, yet Nigerians were being asked to comply with higher taxes under what he called a manipulated framework.

“There is no virtue in celebrating increased government revenue while the people grow poorer,” he said, stressing that “taxing poverty does not create wealth; it deepens hardship.”

Obi argued that any tax system that leaves citizens worse off violates the core principles of good governance and sound economic management.

He concluded by calling for a fair, lawful and people-centred tax regime that supports production, rewards enterprise, protects the vulnerable and rebuilds trust between the government and the people, insisting that only such an approach can make taxation a true driver of unity, growth and shared prosperity.