Court Summons Dino Melaye Over Alleged ₦509 Million Tax Evasion

A Magistrate Court in Abuja has ordered former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, to appear before it over allegations of tax evasion running into hundreds of millions of naira. The criminal summons, dated August 21, 2025, and issued by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Magistrate Court, requires Melaye to present himself in Wuse Zone II on September 5, 2025.

The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) accused the former lawmaker of failing to pay his personal income tax for 2023 and 2024, in addition to under-declaring his income in earlier years. Records from the agency showed that Melaye paid only ₦85,000.08 in 2019, ₦100,000.08 in 2020, ₦120,000 in 2021, and ₦1 million in 2022, despite declaring far higher earnings, including more than ₦6.5 million in 2022 alone.

An administrative tax assessment was issued to him on May 23, 2025, followed by a Best of Judgment Assessment on June 23, 2025, after he allegedly failed to respond within the required period. Attempts to serve him personally were unsuccessful, leading officials to paste the notice at his Maitama residence on July 9. The notice put his liabilities at ₦234,896,000 for 2023 and ₦274,712,000 for 2024.

The FCT-IRS accused Melaye of breaching Section 41 of the Personal Income Tax Act and warned that failure to raise a valid objection or settle the liabilities would make the assessment final, clearing the way for enforcement. The agency also disclosed that further reviews of his past filings for 2020 to 2022 had revealed under-declarations and underpayments, with new notices expected soon.

Melaye, a former chairman of the Senate Committees on FCT and Aviation, has remained a controversial figure in Nigerian politics. He was the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate in the November 2023 Kogi State governorship election but lost to Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress.