Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990, once declared that “no nation ever grew more prosperous by taxing its citizens beyond their capacity to pay.” The reasoning goes that taxing people more than they can afford to pay will only make the economy worse since the burden of taxes will make people less productive overall. Whether on purpose or accidentally, the Tinubu administration has disregarded this fundamental fact.
The opposition political parties never say anything except the sporadic statements made by Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that in democracies, the opposition is best expressed via the national parliament, which is not happening in Nigeria today. That implies that the national assembly is the main forum for echoing the opinions of opposition leaders like Atiku and Obi. But at the national assembly, mum is the word.
The Buhari administration sold off a large portion of the country’s crude oil in advance before leaving office. With the crude that is only partially there still accounting for up to 75% of export revenue, the Tinubu presidency has turned to taxes and loans to pay for government spending. The N3 trillion in loans from the CBN through Ways and Means are said to have been taken by the Tinubu administration in less than a year.
It is also anticipated that members of the public will show interest and express agreement or disagreement on the proposed bill. Public hearings are frequently publicised for this reason. All of the important views will then be included in the committee report to the plenary and serve as the foundation for the third reading, which will determine whether the bill passes or fails in part or its entirety.