by Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari got the green light from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to present N6 trillion 2016 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly today.
The council also approved a memorandum from the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for a review of the nation’s taxation laws.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and his Budget and National Planning counterpart, Senator Udo Udoma, disclosed these to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over by Buhari.
Mohammed said: “Two major memos were presented today. The first was the memo by the attorney general for a review of the extant taxation laws to improve the legal framework and enhance compliance. This was duly approved.
“The second memo was presented by Senator Udoma, seeking approval of the 2016 budget which was also approved.
“As you know, the president would be presenting the budget before the National Assembly today.”
Udoma, however, refused to answer questions directed at him to give insights into the 2016 budget, insisting that only the president is at liberty to disclose the details and that he would do that at the National Assembly.
On taxation, Udoma said the review was looking at policies behind the taxation laws to see whether any needs to be strengthened.
Although he said it was premature to talk about the exact provisions of the review, the minister hinted that wealthy Nigerians would pay more.
“It is a little premature to talk about what exactly the reviews are. I am sure that they would be consulting very widely and definitely, any review will not aim at those who cannot afford it. It would be aimed more at the affluent rather than the poor,” he said.
Culled from The Sun
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