By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, December 27, 2021
Following the ongoing debate about whether to tax the rich more in Nigeria, a bus driver in Ibadan told YeyeNews.com on Friday that he opposes the idea of placing more tax burden on the rich because he believes one day he might win a huge sum of money from playing ‘Baba Ijebu’. “I am an ardent player of Baba Ijebu lottery. You know I could win big from it and the last thing I want is for the government trying to take it”, the bus driver said.
He further added that although he knew the odds of ever coming into that kind of wealth is very slim, he had to be prepared just in case it were to happen. “People don’t experience such lucky wins in Baba Ijebu everyday. How fair is it for the FIRS to come in the moment I make it big and take some of my jackpot? It is natural that any amount I win should be mine and only mine.
Neither Buhari nor FIRS partook in the risk I took. Besides, the more they tax those earnings the more they discourage people like us from playing the lottery. But why even bother? Should I ever be lucky enough to win big, I will quickly hide the earnings by depositing the cash in an offshore account in the Virgin Islands. I have learned how to do it from Bishop Oyedepo”.
But the operators of Baba Ijebu has assured their customers that the planned tax on the rich will not affect their earnings. “This proposed tax is not targeting at your earnings”, the company said referring to their customers. “No amount of money you win from us can make you rich. You will still lose all of it eventually”.
