Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has refuted rumors circulating that the committee would enlist local boys to enforce tax collection and payment.
According to an interview that Oyedele did with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, local boys could receive training in tax collection and be compensated fairly for their work.
“We’re also considering how to involve all stakeholders because, in the end, interrupting someone’s means of subsistence, whether they do so legally or not, can lead to crises that would be challenging to handle. However, once everyone is involved, perhaps we should provide those neighborhood boys and touts with uniforms and some training.
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After that, they receive a respectable salary. And some of them will naturally leave that job and go on to something else if you give them the skills, right? Our plan is to consider what is best for our nation and to get the support of all relevant parties. We firmly believe that all parties involved, including the government, have the best interests of their nation at heart. All we need to do is help them see the wider picture so they can join us. In the Channels TV interview, Oyedele was cited as saying, “That’s the plan that we have.”
Oyedele, however, claimed he was quoted out of context in a statement posted on his X account on Saturday.
He maintained that the lads from the area in question could not be recruited to perform a task they were already performing because they were already enforcing tax payment and collection.
“You cannot hire someone to perform a job they are already performing, legally or not,” he declared. State and local governments in Nigeria are authorized by law to levy and collect more than forty different types of taxes and levies, such as levies on bicycles, trucks, and buses as well as levies on wheelbarrows, kiosks, and shops.
Area boys are frequently hired to collect these taxes, which they frequently accomplish through harassment and clumsy, unconventional methods.
In contrast to expectations, he continued, the taxes paid generate a pitiful amount of revenue even with enforcement.
Regretfully, despite the enormous burden these taxes place on small businesses, artisans, and transporters, the government receives very little revenue from them. We want to get rid of a lot of these taxes, harmonize the ones that make sense, and figure out a legal way to collect them with cell phones,” he said.
Correcting the record, he clarified his statement regarding the local boys’ involvement in tax enforcement and collection.
How to gain the support of those who currently collect these taxes—and benefit from doing so beyond what they are being paid officially—was the topic I addressed during my sensationalized and misquoted interview on Channels TV. I did not use any terms like employ or recruit. The excerpt is available to watch at this link: https://youtu.be/PeM4bf-N3DI?si=0fYY8u04L_35aMzk
Beyond the legal side of things, my thinking was to look at the social side of things and come up with a workable solution with a good chance of working. The idea is that the government could pay the collectors a fair wage that is comparable to what they currently make and train them to behave in a civilized manner.
They will now be in charge of promoting and overseeing compliance. The payers will receive dignified treatment and pay less. He argued that everyone would win since society will prosper and the government will make more money.