The President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Mr Adesina Adedayo, has said that Nigeria needs to effectively harness its tax revenue potentials in order to achieve sustainable development.
Adedayo made the observation at the 25th Annual Tax Conference (ATC) of the Institute recently held in Abuja.
The conference theme for the year, “Nigeria of the Future: Achieving Sustainable Development Through Taxation”.
The CITN President decried that the country has not been effectively harnessing its tax revenue potentials, describing that as setback to achieving sustainable development for the economy.
He emphasised the need for fair and equitable tax systems that can promote sustainable development and reduce poverty.
According to him, for Nigeria to achieve sustainable development, there is urgent need to address issues that would promote effective and efficient utilisation of the tax revenue potentials.
“A simple analysis of the socio-economic environment of Nigeria will reveal that there is a fundamental gap between our developmental potentials and current realities. In the midst of apitalizati revenue from crude oil earnings, actuating value of the Naira, rising debt burdens and increasing government’s expenditure, taxation has become the only “hope of the Nation.”
Mr Mohamed Yahya, Country Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria, said that taxes were potent instrument that would assist Nigeria in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Yahya said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Also speaking, Dr Joshua Omuya, Former Member, Board of Directors, Central Bank of Nigeria, decried that taxation as a strategic and sustainable instrument for financing government expenditure has not yielded the required quantum of revenue needed to provide adequate public goods and services to over 200 million Nigerians.
He explained that Nigeria like many other developing countries is confronted with inadequate domestic resource apitalizati (DRM) to provide basic services, adding that Tax to GDP ratio in Nigeria is estimated at 8%, the lowest among its peers.
He said, “Whatever the prevailing ideology or political colour of a particular government, it must steadily expand a whole host of services as a prerequisite for the country’s development.
