19th October, 2017
The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted an upward review of taxes on tobacco to control the products and fund healthcare services.
The adoption was sequel to a motion moved at plenary by Rep. Sergius Ogun (Edo-APC) on the grave danger tobacco posed to human health and the environment.
The House upon adoption of the motion mandated its Committee on Finance to interface with the Federal Ministry of Finance to review the tobacco tax regime.
It also directed its Committee on Healthcare Services to ensure implementation and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.
The green chambers urged the Federal Government to embark on sustained campaigns to control tobacco use, adopt stringent measures to restrict advertisement of tobacco products.
It also urged the federal government to promote smoke-free policies that cover public places to protect non-smokers from the harmful effects of second-hand smoking.
Moving the motion earlier, Ogun said that issues concerning tobacco and its various usages had engaged the attention of Governments all over the world.
The lawmaker said that tobacco use accounted for more than seven million deaths around the world annually.
He said Nigeria has an estimated five million smoking adults, who in turn exposed 30 million non-smokers to harmful effects of second-hand smoking.
In his estimation, the lawmaker said that not less than N120 billion was been spent annually on tobacco in the country.
In the breakdown, Ogun said an average smoker spent about N2,000 on tobacco monthly and an average of N10 billion monthly for the five million adult smokers.
He disclosed said that the tax being levied on tobacco products in the country is 20 per cent of the retail price.
Ogun argued that the tax was below the WHO benchmark of 75 per cent, and did not conform to International best practices when compared with other countries.
According to him, 80.5 per cent is levied in the U.K, 43 per cent in the USA, 49.3 per cent in South Africa and 52.3 per cent in Kenya.
He said taxes on tobacco contributed 12 billion pounds in the UK and 14.1 billion dollars in the USA annually.
The legislator said a policy of increasing tax on tobacco would curb public health concerns and substantially increase revenue for Government.
He said the revenue would help in providing funds to address the challenges of the healthcare services delivery.
On the negative effects of tobacco, the lawmaker said it decreased household incomes but doubled Government expenditure in healthcare provisions.
The legislator said tobacco “is a leading cause of non-communicable diseases and remains a leading public health threat’’.
He noted the waste generated from tobacco contained over 7000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment.
Ogun said that, although Nigeria was the first African country to implement the requirements of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in 2008. The Government needed to do more in its control.