Pat Utomi blasts Tinubu’s govt, asks what Nigerians pay taxes for

By Adegboyega Adeleye

Political economist Pat Utomi has accused the APC-led government of abandoning its responsibilities while Nigerians pay out of pocket for basic services, from electricity and water to roads, healthcare and education.

In a post on his X handle on Monday, Utomi questioned what citizens receive in return for paying taxes when households and communities must fund services that government is expected to provide.

“The only thing this APC-led government is good at doing is making your life worse,” he wrote.

Utomi said Nigerians buy generators to cope with unreliable electricity, sink boreholes for water and contribute money to repair roads. He also cited private security, healthcare and schools as costs families increasingly bear because public institutions have been neglected.

He added that waste disposal, drainage, streetlights and transformers had also become private financial responsibilities.

“Then what exactly are we paying this APC-led government to do?” he asked, arguing that governments elsewhere invest public resources in education, healthcare, infrastructure and social welfare.

Utomi also criticised the government’s appeals for patience and sacrifice amid economic hardship. He cited the removal of petrol subsidies and increases in electricity tariffs and university fees, alongside rising healthcare costs.

“But how much more must the people sacrifice while those in power continue to enjoy the privileges of office?” he asked.

Utomi argued that taxation obliges government to provide public services, describing it as more than a contribution from citizens to politicians.

“The government cannot collect from the people, abandon its responsibilities and then demand applause from the people they’re making their lives difficult,” he wrote.

He concluded with a challenge to the government: “If Nigerians must finance their own survival, what exactly is the purpose of government?”

In a separate post on Sunday, Utomi said the APC government had made the daily struggle to earn a living an unbearable burden for hardworking Nigerians. He described the hardship as a tragedy for a richly endowed nation that he believes is poorly governed.

He said: “The incompetence of the APC government has turned the daily struggle for survival into an unbearable burden for hardworking Nigerians. Those who labour honestly to earn a living are being punished by a system that should be making their lives easier. What a tragedy for a nation so richly endowed yet so poorly governed!”