A Magistrate Court in Abuja has summoned ex-Senator Dino Melaye over alleged multi-year tax evasion.
FCT-IRS claims he owes about ₦509.6 million after discrepancies in his income declarations.
A Magistrate Court in Abuja has summoned former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, to appear before it on allegations of tax evasion and under-declaration of income spanning several years.
The criminal summons, dated August 21, 2025, and issued by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone II, directs Melaye to appear on September 5, 2025.
According to the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), the former lawmaker consistently failed to remit appropriate taxes despite publicly declaring higher earnings.
Records cited by the agency indicated that while Melaye declared over ₦6.5 million as income in 2022, he paid only ₦1 million in taxes for that year. His earlier payments were even lower ₦85,000.08 in 2019, ₦100,000.08 in 2020, and ₦120,000 in 2021.
The tax authority said an administrative assessment covering 2023 and 2024 was issued to Melaye on May 23, 2025. After he failed to respond within the stipulated 30 days, the agency raised a Best of Judgment Assessment on June 23, 2025.
Efforts to serve him directly proved unsuccessful, prompting officials to paste the notice at the gate of his Maitama residence on July 9, 2025. The FCT-IRS pegged his outstanding liabilities at ₦234.9 million for 2023 and ₦274.7 million for 2024, totaling about ₦509.6 million.
In its notice, the agency accused Melaye of breaching Section 41 of the Personal Income Tax Act and warned that unless he clears the liabilities or raises a valid objection within 30 days, the assessment will become final and binding, paving the way for recovery proceedings.
The service also disclosed that discrepancies had been found in his filings for 2020, 2021, and 2022, with further assessments to be issued once reviews are complete.
Melaye, who represented Kogi West in the 8th National Assembly, previously served in the House of Representatives and chaired Senate Committees on the Federal Capital Territory and Aviation. He was also the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 2023 Kogi State governorship election but lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Usman Ododo.
