From FRED ITUA, Abuja
The Senate has declared it aligns with the position of the federal government that rich citizens should pay more taxes.
According to the upper legislative chamber, people who earn higher must pay taxes on luxury goods.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over Tuesday’s legislative business, said the rich must pay more taxes, while poor Nigerians should pay less. He said with more money in government’s confers, more Nigerians will be lifted out of poverty.
“In other countries of the world, governments make deliberate efforts to get their people out of poverty. This is the practice all over the world. Nigeria should not be different. We need to provide for our people and get them out of poverty.
“There are so many ways we can achieve this. Government needs to implement policies that will take us out of poverty. One of them is taxation. The rich needs to pay more taxes, while the poor should pay less. When the rich pay more taxes, there will be enough money to get our people out of poverty.
“We have our able youths who are jobless, despite the fact that they are educated. This cannot continue. We need to provide jobs for our youths and take them off the streets. As a parliament, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that this is achieved,” Ekweremadu said.
Details later