ABUJA — Former Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has been dragged before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Magistrate Court over alleged multi-year tax evasion running into hundreds of millions of naira.
A criminal summons, dated August 21, 2025, directed Melaye to appear before the Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone II, Abuja, on September 5, 2025, following a petition by the FCT Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS).
According to the FCT-IRS, Melaye allegedly failed to pay his mandatory Personal Income Tax for 2023 and 2024, while also under-declaring and underpaying in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Records show that the former lawmaker paid only N85,000.08 in 2019, N100,000.08 in 2020, N120,000 in 2021, and N1 million in 2022 — despite declaring far higher annual earnings, including over N6.5 million in 2022 alone.
The revenue agency said it had issued an administrative assessment for 2023 and 2024 on May 23, 2025. But after Melaye failed to respond within the 30-day window, a “best of judgment assessment” was raised on June 23, 2025.
Efforts to serve him personally were unsuccessful, prompting officials to paste the notice at his Maitama residence on July 9, 2025.
The FCT-IRS assessed Melaye’s tax liabilities at N234,896,000.00 for 2023 and N274,712,000.00 for 2024, bringing the total to over N509 million.
“Despite reminders and ample time provided, your non-compliance with Section 41 of the Act constitutes a breach of your obligations,” the notice read, warning that failure to pay or file objections within 30 days would make the assessment final and trigger recovery proceedings.
Melaye, who previously served as chairman of the Senate Committees on FCT and Aviation, was also the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the November 2023 Kogi election.
Comments