FORMER Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has been summoned to appear before the Federal Capital Territory Magistrate Court in Abuja over his alleged failure to pay over N509 million in Personal Income Tax for the years 2023 and 2024, alongside arrears from previous years.
The summons, dated August 21, 2025, mandates Melaye to appear at the Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone II, Abuja, on September 5, 2025, to answer questions over the alleged tax defaults.
According to documents from the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) obtined by News Point Nigeria, Melaye has consistently underpaid his statutory taxes despite declaring higher annual incomes.
Records show that Melaye paid only N85,000.08 in 2019, N100,000.08 in 2020, N120,000 in 2021, and N1 million in 2022, while declaring much larger earnings.
In 2022 alone, he reportedly declared an annual income of over N6.5 million, far above the amount he remitted to the tax authorities.
On May 23, 2025, the FCT-IRS issued an administrative tax assessment for 2023 and 2024. After Melaye allegedly failed to respond within the stipulated 30 days, a Best of Judgment Assessment was issued on June 23, 2025.
The assessment pegged Melaye’s total tax liabilities at N234,896,000 for 2023 and N274,712,000 for 2024, bringing his cumulative liability for both years to more than N509 million.
The revenue service also disclosed that further investigations had uncovered under-declarations and underpayments in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Notices of additional assessments, it said, would be issued once the review is concluded.
In its official notice to Melaye, the FCT-IRS cited Section 41 of the Personal Income Tax Act, which makes it mandatory for every taxable individual to file returns annually. The agency warned that his repeated non-compliance amounted to a breach of the law.
The notice read in part: “Your tax liability has been assessed in the sum of N234,896,000.00 and N274,712,000.00 for the period of 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“The computation and assessment are attached for your action. Please note that the Service has also identified income under-declaration and underpayment for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 years of assessment.”
The agency further emphasized that Melaye had the right to object to the assessment within 30 days, provided he substantiates his claims with relevant documents.
“Failure to make payment or file objection within the stipulated period will result in the assessment being deemed final and conclusive, and recovery proceedings will be initiated without further notice,” the statement added.
