President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said that charging the right prices on petroleum products and increasing Value Added Taxes appropriately are necessary for government to function effectively.
Dangote spoke at a dialogue session organised by the National Peace Committee, co-chaired by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), and the Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah in Abuja on Wednesday.
Dangote said, “How do they expect a government to function without paying taxes? But you have to pay tax; they want to increase VAT, people shout. They want to charge right pricing on petrol products and some people say no.
“So where is the money going to come from? So, it is a collective responsibility. If you want to be safe, you have to contribute your own quota to be safe. It doesn’t come that cheap.
“We have to be careful with the kind of news we disseminate because in areas where there is no peace, nobody will invest and that is why it is always good for us to talk good about the country.
“The question of security is everybody’s business. Even us, today, we cannot do any business without security and that is why the private sector promised to put in N100bn to support the police in terms of security.
“Take the issue of Kagara (in Niger State where they kidnapped school children), there were only eight policemen in a big Local Government Area like Kagara. So these are the issues.”
