CISLAC seeks appropriate tax control, preventive measures on tobacco

Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa, has urged all relevant tax and regulatory agencies and stakeholders to step up preventive and control measures, especially through tax regime on tobacco consumption in Nigeria.

He stated this, yesterday, in Owerri, Imo State, at a joint Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) capacity building for relevant government agencies at the sub-national level on tobacco taxation and revenue mobilisation through fines and levies.

Musa, who was represented by the Programme Manager of CISLAC, Okeke Anya, maintained that the Nigeria Tobacco Regulation Control (NTRC) Act 2015 and Nigeria Tobacco Regulation 2019 should be optimally implemented in conjunction with advocacy engagement through the efforts of the CSOs and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Speaking on the health consequences of tobacco use and understanding the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Article six and Nigeria’s tobacco tax, he disclosed that Nigerians consume N7.45 billion monthly on tobacco and N89 billion yearly.

He lamented that reports indicated that about N526.55 billion was being spent yearly by patients of tobacco consumption, while 370,000 children and over 4,303,00 adults consume tobacco products and advocated an increase in taxes in line with the real values and tax measures.

Giving details of the rate of consumption and adverse effects of tobacco products, Musa lamented that no fewer than 17,500 Nigerians die yearly from tobacco-related diseases.

Explaining how serious more people smoke, he disclosed that reports from Ukraine, in a study, indicated that 2.4 million adults smoke eight sticks of cigarettes daily, while 207 men, 130 women are killed weekly through illicit consumption.

He maintained that available reports showed that no fewer than 67,000 Nigerian girls under the age of 28 and 303,300 boys, representing 11 and 19 per cent respectively, are smokers, adding that stakeholders at the event canvassed adequate checks against the menace.