Sack workers aged 50 years and above, levy anyone earning over N30,000 – Governors tell Buhari

Nigerian Governors have advised President Muhammadu Buhari to retire all federal civil servants who are older than 50 years.

Newsflash Nigeria reports that then governors also advised the federal government to raise taxes across boars as well as levy anyone earning N30,000 and above monthly.

According to Premium Times, the Nigerian governors made the proposal at a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in July 2022.

The platform stated that the governors advised the government in a bid to prevent the nation from imminent economic collapse.

The governors also advised the government to begin implementation of the updated Stephen Oronsaye Report, which suggested the merger and shutdown of agencies and parastatals with duplicated or contested functions.

It was said that the governors were concerned about the deteriorating state of the economy and a proposal to restore fiscal discipline was presented to the federal government.

As part of measures to restore fiscal discipline, the governors advised the federal government to reduce expenditure immediately by eliminating petrol subsidy and NNPC-funded projects, cap the Social Investment Programme (SIP) and National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) budgets to N200 billion, eliminate extra-constitutional deductions from FAAC and reduce SWV items for SDG and NASS Constituency projects.

The governors also asked the government to reduce duplications (e.g. empowerment programmes) and waste, reduce the 1% granted to NASENI to 0.2%, amend the Act in the 2022 Finance Bill, reduce personnel costs of federal government MDAs, and expedite the privatization of non-performing assets like the NDPHC power plants.

Similarly, the governors urged that the 2023 – 2025 MTEF should reflect the suggestions and the government’s commitment to restore fiscal discipline while the planned 22% increase in salaries in 2023 is reconsidered. They added that the fiscal deficit should be reduced to no more than 2% of GDP in 2023 – 2025.

To conserve foreign exchange and grow the reserves, the governors suggested that foreign trips by MDAs, including budgetary-independent agencies such as FIRS, NPA, NIMASA and NCC, be put on hold for at least one year.

They also urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to issue requests for Visas to foreign embassies for federal government officials and their families, unless express approval is granted by the presidency.

The governors further suggested the movement from State Income Taxation to Consumption Taxation, adding that with the introduction of 3% Federal Income Tax, state-level PIT should be abolished.

Similarly, they suggested that state Sales Taxes (flat rate of 10%) should be enacted for the 36 States and FCT, VAT levels increased to 10% with a timeline to raise it to between 15% and 20%, as well as re-introduction and passage of VAT into the Exclusive List. It was not clear whether all governors agreed with the position on VAT being moved to the exclusive list.

To improve tax revenues, they suggested that the federal government should introduce a flat 3% Federal Personal Income Tax on all Nigerians earning more than N30,000 per month, adding that persons earning less than N30,000 per month whether employed or not, including farmers and traders, should pay a monthly FPIT of N100.

Similarly, telecoms firms and NIMC should collaborate to ensure the deduction of this from the phone credit of individuals and linking to NIN and BVN.

The governors also suggested centralization of the collection of all federal oil and non-oil taxes in one agency, the FIRS, while Customs, NPA, and others assess and issue demands.

They suggested that the Federal Government improve crude oil and gas production, resolve lingering issues of ownership of gas in PSCs (eg Nnwa-Doro, OML 129) to help position Nigeria to take advantage of the gas needs in Europe, and provide incentives to expedite development of vandalism-resistant deep offshore fields like Bonga SW (Shell), Preweoi (Total), Zabazaba (ENI) and Owowo (Exxon).

The governors equally advised the government to encourage (and pre-finance, if necessary) Dangote Refinery to early completion to reduce massive future outflows of foreign exchange.

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