Lawmakers, CSO Storm MTN's Office, Protest against Tax Avoidance by Multinationals

Lawmakers, CSO Storm MTN's Office, Protest against Tax Avoidance by Multinationals

Members of the National Assembly and Action Aid Nigeria today besieged MTN's office in Abuja during a protest march against multinationals in the country said to be in the habit of avoiding taxes.

Addressing journalists at unity fountain in Abuja, the takeoff point of the protest, Senator Binta Garuba said across the world, campaigners of education are focusing on the theme of ‘Education Financing’ and advocating for better funding to guarantee quality education for all.

She added: "We in Nigeria cannot fold our arms when we all know that we, more than any other nation, have major challenges surrounding funding for education in our country."

According to her, "In 2015, UNESCO figures showed that 10.5 million Nigerian children were out of school. Yet, we are giving away $2.9 billion annually by way of tax waivers, despite evidence that they are not necessary to attract investors. For today, even for tomorrow, the unacceptability large number of out-of-school children in Nigeria portends great danger to all of us."

Garuba added that: “What do we really mean if Nigeria is said to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world if we fail to educate our children? In which economy do we want uneducated children to partake in? And how do we sustain an economy with a population we have failed to educate?" she queried.

The lawmaker emphasised that the issue of adequate funding for quality education for Nigerian children must receive urgent attention from the government, adding that there was need to fund the children's education through a tax system that is not hampered by restrictive tax treaties or unfair incentives and waivers.

"Along with the Action Aid, we call on the federal government during this global week for education 2016 to stop granting harmful corporate tax incentives; stop excessively restrictive tax treaties; put in place relevant mechanism to curb tax avoidance practices of multinationals and large corporations,  and spend  increased tax revenue on financing education, especially for girls," Garuba noted.

While at the MTN headquarters, the lawmaker said Nigeria needs the multinationals to pay taxes so that the same tax could be used to enhance quality education for the youths in the primary, secondary to the tertiary institutions.

Also lending his voice, a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education,  Hon. Oduneye Olusegun, said: "This is not a call on MTN alone, it is for all corporate organisations in Nigeria that we need your taxes, not just taxes, but adequate ones to develop our education system, to develop our health sector and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians so that the issue of security will be a thing of the past so that we can live in peace in Nigeria."