SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari was doing everything possible to address the present economic challenges facing the country,saying that it would soon be history.
Dogara, who gave the assurance in Abuja, at the Chattered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) Abuja Tax week on “the dilemma of improving tax revenue in tough economic times,” declared that the government was resolute and determined to bring succour to millions of Nigerians.
He noted that survey of the Economists on growth rate for the West African region was put at 5.4 per cent while that of Sub-Saharan Africa was 4.6 per cent.
He further stated that the consensus in the fact that diversification of the economy was no longer a politically expedient tool but an urgent economic renaissance, which must occur for Nigeria’s continued survival and sustenance.
According to Dogara, “midway into fiscal year 2016, the challenges of meeting yearning expectations is still as daunting as ever but the government is as resolute as it remains dedicated to bringing succour to the plight of the average Nigerian.
“To do this, the government deliberately tinkered with the federal budget in order to ensure that it delivers a 70:30 recurrent to capital spending per total budget expenditure, in order to boost capital formation in the economy.”
He called on Nigerians to pay their taxes as patriotic and law abiding citizens, while he also asked well-meaning Nigerians and foreign business owners to declare their incomes and pay their taxes to the Nigerian government.
