Minimum Wage: LCCI Reacts To Alleged Plans By The Nigerian Government To Increase VAT

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Director-General, Mr Muda Yusuf, has warned against the upward review of Value Added Tax (VAT) as a means of funding the national minimum wage.

He said the development would create a further problem for the business community and compound already operating environment challenges.

According to him, the way tax is operated in the country is different from the way it is operated in the other countries., adding that it is not favourable to the average man on the street.

Yusuf added that taxation is about creating an environment which allows the rich to support the poor, stating that this same principle could be extended to micro enterprises in the economy.

“Such category of business owners should also enjoy tax exemption,” he stated.

According to him, a minimum wage of N30, 000 is not too much to be paid to the lowest worker of an organisation, whether in the public and private sector, taking into account, the cost of living in the country.

He said: “Let us take a scenario of a family man that has to pay school fees for his children, provide feeding for the family, pay for health care, pay for transportation, pay house rent and possibly even support some dependants. A monthly income of N30,000 certainly cannot cover these basic responsibilities. It is therefore even worse when we talk about N18,000, minimum wage.

“However, the challenge with many of the state Governments is that they have a workforce that is very unwieldy and not sustainable. There is also the problem of too many political appointees on the payroll of many of the state governments.’’