Vice President Kashim Shettima says the Federal Government’s proposed tax reforms are designed to improve livelihoods and ease the burden of multiple levies on small businesses and low-income earners.
Speaking Wednesday in Abuja on behalf of President Bola Tinubu at an interfaith breaking of fast for Ramadan and Lent at the State House, Shettima said the reforms would help reduce poverty rather than worsen economic hardship as critics have claimed.
According to him, the planning and implementation of the tax reforms were carefully designed to eliminate multiple charges that weigh heavily on Nigerians.
“The same people who are shouting hoarse that the tax reform is meant to pulverise further and pauperise the poor are far from the truth,” Shettima said.
“We have to go out and tell the truth to the people. We have to educate them. We have to mount the pulpits and take our government to the Nigerian people and tell them the truth.”
The vice president urged members of the administration to remain champions of the government’s reforms and actively communicate their benefits to the public.
He said the government was concerned about the economic challenges facing Nigerians and was implementing policies aimed at lifting many out of poverty without adding to their burdens.
Shettima also highlighted what he described as gains from the administration’s economic reforms, including an increase in Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, the streamlining of exchange rates and the removal of the fuel subsidy.
He said Tinubu should be commended for taking steps previous administrations avoided.
According to him, the president did not plan to announce the removal of fuel subsidy in his 2023 inaugural address but did so after recognising that the policy was draining resources needed for development.
“Three years down the road, the economy has bounced back,” Shettima said.
The interfaith event was attended by members of the Federal Executive Council, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, special advisers, senior special assistants and heads of agencies and parastatals.
Shettima also urged government officials to counter what he described as misinformation about the administration’s reforms.
