Impose tax on tobacco consumption, group urges Tinubu
A group, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, has called on President Bola Tinubu to impose a consumption tax on tobacco to address public health issues in Nigeria.
Briefing newsmen in Kano at the end of a one-day media round-table on Taxation and Tobacco, the Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwalu Musa, alias Rafsanjani, urged the President to, as a matter of urgency, put the machinery in motion towards the implementation of effective tobacco tax regimes in Nigeria.
Rafsanjani, who was represented by CISLAC Senior Programme Officer, Solomon Adoga, explained that the World Bank Development Update on Nigeria had said Nigeria could generate more than N600bn annually by increasing excise duties on tobacco and alcohol.
“Nigeria is yet to achieve six per cent of total allocation to health, thereby contributing little to improve the state of health care in the country.
“Amid the poor state of health care in the country, the prevalence of consumption of harmful products, such as tobacco, continues to further stretch the already overwhelmed facilities in the country and call for more concerted efforts on the part of the government to control the use of such products,” he said.
CISLAC said imposing a tax on tobacco would not only promote citizens’ health but also reduce the cost of health care for both government and households.
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