A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, Nnamdi Onochie, has advised the President Muhammadu Buhari government to revert Value Added Tax (VAT) from 7.5 percent to 5 percent.

The former Nigerian envoy to Algeria and the Philippines, in a statement, based his counsel on current inflation trends in Nigeria.

He warned that retaining VAT at 7.5 percent would do more harm to citizens trying to cope with economic hardship.

Onochie cautioned against repeated foreign loans, noting that macroeconomic measures should be adopted to pull Nigeria out of the financial crunch.

He maintained that foreign loans and harsh tax methods have impacted negatively on the populace.

“I submit that this is not the way to go and I’m hopeful that the people will see the difference in 2023.”

The former Commissioner for Special Duties in Delta recommended open governance to tackle graft decisively.

Onochie added that technology remains the best tool to fight corruption and urged the authorities to do more to curb the problem.