Former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, has thrown her weight behind tax reforms introduced by the Federal Government.
She explained that tax compliance had historically been weak, particularly among wealthy individuals and large corporations.
Adeosun referenced initiatives such as the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), which targeted tax evasion.
“When you’re minister of finance, the word ‘no’ becomes your watchword. If your finance minister is loved by everybody, they’re probably not doing much of a job,” she said.
Adeosun also praised the Tinubu administration for pushing data harmonisation across government agencies, describing it as critical to improving tax collection and governance.
“I was excited when I saw moves to harmonise data. We’ve had TIN, NIN, BVN—too many numbers. Once you harmonise data, it becomes very difficult to hide,” she said.
The former minister further stated that access to integrated data allowed the government to identify individuals and companies benefiting from public resources without paying taxes, adding that “once you have data, and with AI, you can see very quickly who is not playing the game fairly”.