We can’t start 2026 with more taxes, Kachikwu tells Tinubu

The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has criticised the Federal Government’s proposed tax reforms, warning that Nigerians cannot afford to begin the new year with additional tax burdens.

In a statement signed in Abuja on Wednesday, Kachikwu cautioned that if the tax reforms are implemented as promised by President Bola Tinubu, they could trigger what he described as a crisis of unprecedented proportions, especially amid the country’s prevailing security challenges.

According to him, what Nigerians need at this time is care, compassion and support, not policies that would further worsen their hardship. He likened the suffering of present-day Nigerians to the biblical account of the Israelites under Pharaoh in Egypt, noting that many citizens now ask whether the country’s leader is acting like Pharaoh.

Kachikwu acknowledged that President Tinubu inherited a fragile economy that required urgent intervention but argued that the economic “surgery” has instead inflicted severe pain on ordinary Nigerians who were meant to benefit from the reforms.

He expressed concern that the main beneficiaries of current policies are what he described as “legal robbers” — individuals and companies that profit from government policies at the expense of the wider population. While conceding the need for tax reforms, he stressed that an already overburdened populace cannot withstand additional taxation, particularly amid widespread distrust over the use of public revenues.

The former ADC candidate warned that further taxation would accelerate the erosion of Nigeria’s middle class, many of whom now pay high costs for private education, healthcare and other services due to the collapse of public institutions.

“My fear is that if implemented as promised, these tax reforms will instigate a crisis of unprecedented proportions, which no one can afford, especially with our current security issues,” he said.

Kachikwu noted that he has supported some of President Tinubu’s bold initiatives and would back him over what he called “failed politicians masquerading as the opposition.” However, he stressed that he could not support any reform that further undermines the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.

He urged the President to align his Renewed Hope Agenda with policies that preserve, rather than extinguish, the hopes of citizens, calling for restraint on tax hikes in the year ahead.

We all need our hopes to be kept alive in 2026,” Kachikwu said, wishing Nigerians a hopeful, happy and prosperous new year.

Culled from punch.