TAX THE RICH TO SAVE THE POOR
Atiku tweeted his idea of how Nigeria could survive recession after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Saturday that the nation’s GDP contracted by 3.62 per cent in the third quarter of 2020, better than its 6.10 per cent contraction in the second quarter. Atiku said the recession could have been avoided if the Buhari administration had listened to him and others. He called on the government to first of all scrap the 2021 budget, saying it “is no longer tenable.” “For example, a stimulus package, in the form of monthly cash transfers of ₦5,000 to be made to every bank account holder, verified by a Bank Verification Number, whose combined total deposit in the year 2019 was lower than the annual minimum wage,” he said. On how to fund the stimulus package, Igbere TV reports that Atiku suggested that a luxury tax be placed on goods and services accessible only to the extremely wealthy individuals. Now, how will this be funded? By more profligate borrowing? No. I propose a...