Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, says for Nigeria to solve the problem of poverty, the rich must be taxed mercilessly.

Speaking at the 70th birthday of Abiola Ajimobi, former governor of Oyo state, he said tax from the rich could be used to create wealth to help the poor.

“We must mercilessly tax the rich, if we are to cure the problem of poverty. We have two contending forces, the poor and the privileged rich,” he said.

“The rich have no problem, they are comfortable. The problem is the poor and they are in the majority. And the point is if the rich failed to address this problem, the comfort of the rich will be taken away, so they must release much of their money to help the poor.”

This is not the first time that Aregbesola will make known his position on taxing wealthy people in the country.

When he appeared before the senate for screening in July, the former governor of Osun state, had empahsised the need for the rich to pay heavy tax.

“We have left the rich men in Nigeria without discharging their responsibility to the citizens, particularly on taxation,” he had said.

“So, I am going to pioneer privilege taxes for those who have huge resources or wealth from which Nigerians must tap. If I go into this, there might be some ill feelings in some quarters, so I won’t go deep into that. I will recommend serious taxation for wealthy people in Nigeria.”