There are many things I wanted to write about from last week but I can’t otherwise I’ll end up in jail.

Since the Department of State Services charged Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of SaharaReporters, to court for “insulting” President Muhammadu Buhari, among other allegations, the message from the presidency has been loud and clear enough: insult the President, go to jail.

A part of DSS’s suit accused Sowore of “knowingly sending messages by means of press interview granted on ‘Arise Television’ network, which you knew to be false for the purpose of causing insult, enmity, hatred and ill-will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Since the issues on which I have an opinion this week will likely cause “ill-will” to the President, I better hold my peace.

I wanted to discuss the approval of the Federal Executive Council for a 50 per cent increase in Value Added Tax from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, subject, of course, to parliamentary stamp.

Buhari’s loyalists would argue that the increase was first recommended by a presidential technical advisory committee but this is the President’s committee and he had the option to reject the advice.

Buhari set up this committee to devise means of funding the new national minimum wage of N30,000; poor workers’ salaries are about to be raised via a VAT hike that will eventually hit them.

My conclusion, therefore, is that President Muhammadu Buhari is verging toward robbing Peter to pay Paul.




Read more here; https://maniagist.com/2019/09/23/i-wanted-to-insult-the-president-but-i-didnt-want-to-go-to-jail-by-fisayo-soyombo/

Don't insult, criticise constructively. A direct insult on the president is bad