The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has dismissed former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s praise of President Bola Tinubu’s tax reforms as “revolutionary.”
He is insisting that the President is simply a seasoned tax collector.
In an interview, Adebayo argued that Tinubu’s reputation as a tax collector predates his presidency.
“Everybody knows that President Tinubu, even in his private life, is a well-known tax collector. He did tax collection in Lagos; he’s going to do tax collection in Abuja now,” he said.
He cautioned that although the reforms have improved coordination compared to what was on the ground, government officials were “overselling” their success.
According to him, the reported N14 trillion collected in taxes this year holds less value in real terms than N7 trillion collected last year due to weakened purchasing power.
“If you do it in real value, the N14 trillion today cannot buy what N7 trillion could buy last year. Let us not over-celebrate it,” he warned.
The SDP chieftain argued that Tinubu’s approach risks shrinking the economy by “taxing Nigerians out of productivity instead of into productivity.”
He maintained that lack of reinvestment of tax proceeds into infrastructure and new sectors will stifle growth, reduce spending, and eliminate job opportunities.
“The economy has to shrink because you are not creating infrastructure out of the money, and you’re not creating new fields. Without sufficient investment, GDP will not grow beyond population growth—and that spells trouble, no matter how good a tax collector you are,” he said.
Adebayo maintained that he has a superior alternative to Tinubu’s framework, promising that when the SDP assumes power, he will implement a fairer and more realistic tax policy.
“My tax policy will not just collect money but expand GDP by encouraging productivity.
Tinubu is taxing people into poverty; I will tax in a way that creates wealth,” he asserted.
