Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has urged the Federal Government to increase its revenue by expanding the tax base and recovering outstanding payments from oil companies rather than introducing additional taxes on Nigerians.
Sowore made the remarks during an interview on AIT on Saturday, arguing that the government could generate more revenue by ensuring that individuals and businesses required to pay taxes fulfil their obligations.
He maintained that Nigeria’s tax collection could improve without necessarily placing additional financial pressure on citizens who are already struggling economically.
“We are not going to introduce tax, but we would expand the tax base, the GDP ratio… Nigeria is probably poorly taxed,” he said.
The AAC presidential candidate compared Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio with that of Ghana, arguing that the country had considerable room to improve its revenue collection.
“We would admit that maybe we are at 10 percent; Ghana is like 17 percent; if we get to 50 percent GDP to tax ratio… No, we are not taxing Nigerians. We are expanding the tax base,” Sowore added.
He explained that people earning taxable income should contribute their share to government revenue, which he said would help the authorities provide the public services they promise.
“As long as you are making money, alright? You are supposed to pay tax and ensure that governments can do what they say they will deliver to you,” he said.
Sowore Accuses Oil Companies of Owing Nigeria $62bn in Royalties
Beyond expanding tax collection, Sowore questioned why the government frequently turns to taxation to raise revenue when, according to him, significant amounts of money remain unpaid to the Nigerian state.
He argued that the country could generate additional funds by pursuing outstanding obligations rather than placing more financial demands on citizens.
“Apart from that, how do you get money? Because that’s always the cup ball thrown at Nigerians: ‘how are we going to get the money?’ You have money everywhere,” he said.
Sowore alleged that oil companies owed Nigeria more than $62 billion in unpaid royalties. He claimed that some operators had received oil blocks, generated billions of dollars from their activities and failed to pay the royalties due to the government.
“I’ll give you an example: there are, as I speak to you today, over 62 billion dollars in unpaid royalties to the Nigerian state from people that we gave free blocks and are making billions from it, they don’t pay royalties,” he said.
He also argued that royalties should be understood as part of the wider framework of government revenue, rather than treated as a separate issue whenever discussions about taxation arise.
“All this revenue you are talking about, they fall under the category of tax. Royalties are taxes too, but when we talk about it, they will lie to you; they don’t want you to understand that all of them fall under the categories of taxation,” Sowore said.
The AAC candidate called on the government to recover the alleged outstanding royalties, arguing that the money could help finance public infrastructure, construct schools and reduce the cost of governance.
“So just ensure that you pay us our 62 billion. You know, we use it to do what we need to do, what we need to construct, the schools we need to build, and we cut down the cost of governance,” he added.
Sowore’s proposal centres on broadening the number of people and businesses contributing to tax revenue, enforcing existing payment obligations and recovering the royalties he claims are owed to Nigeria, rather than relying on additional taxes to increase government income.
