The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president in 2023, Atiku Abubakar, has issued a dire warning that President Bola Tinubu’s proposed hike in the Value Added Tax (VAT) would bankrupt the populace.
The outgoing vice president expressed regret that President Tinubu and his advisors chose to penalise Nigerians with levies and fees.

He bemoaned the fact that the President looks for methods to finance his expensive expenditures rather than looking for ways to better the lives of Nigerians who are already burdened by his government’s harsh economic policies.

Atiku claimed that Nigerians would struggle more as a result of the VAT increase policy in a statement released on Sunday with the title “The increase in VAT is set to become the blazing inferno that will consume the very essence of our people.”

“President Bola Tinubu and his group of advisors have decided to increase the VAT rate from 7.5% to 10%, despite the NNPCL announcing a sharp increase in PMS prices at the petrol pump,” he stated. This action ushers in a new age of punitive and regressive policies, the effects of which are certain to worsen Nigeria’s already precarious economic growth and intensify the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

“President Tinubu and his group appear to be reverting to their tried and true strategy: piling on the responsibilities of the poor while unwaveringly disregarding their excessive indulgences! Tinubu’s lavish renovations of villas and his purchase of new cars and planes for himself and his family demonstrate a deep insensitivity to the suffering of the underprivileged.

It is not necessary to be an economist to see the dire consequences of President Tinubu’s misguided policies for the future of Nigeria. The unrelenting increase in interest rates and taxes has proven to be unduly burdensome, crippling companies of all kinds, creating job losses, and making the misery of the impoverished worse. Since Tinubu’s election, the manufacturing sector in particular has experienced unrelenting conflict; the NBS reports that since December 2023, its contribution to the GDP has decreased by more than 20%.

The President’s decision to remove import duties on rice, maize, and other commodities was also lamented by Atiku. He clarified that the approach has resulted in significant employment losses and economic difficulties for farmers.

Tinubu shifted his focus to agriculture at the beginning of August. As is typical of this regime, a new policy was quietly developed and unveiled that allowed the duty-free importation of agricultural products including wheat, maize, and paddy in spite of strong objections from farmer organisations around the country.

“This strategy puts Nigeria’s aspirations for food security in jeopardy since it forces local farmers to curtail or give up on their production efforts due to unfair competition from low-cost producers in Asia, Europe, and America. It throws doubt on the sector’s long-term profitability, the production of jobs, and income, hence endangering Nigeria’s sustainability and progress.

It would be prudent for President Tinubu and his advisors to refocus their efforts on developing long-term remedies for the structural shocks plaguing the economy rather than exacerbating the situation by implementing actions that will only cause further unrest, Atiku continued.