Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee, says any delay in implementing the new tax laws beyond January 1, 2026, could negatively affect workers and businesses.
Oyedele spoke on Monday during an interview on ‘The Morning Brief’, a Channels Television programme.
His warning comes amid public debate over claims that the tax laws signed and gazetted differ from the versions approved by the national assembly.
The allegation was raised last week by Abdulsamad Dasuki, house of representatives member, who said the gazetted documents failed to reflect what lawmakers debated and passed.
Following the claim, civil society organisations and political figures, including Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, and Peter Obi, 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, called for the suspension of the laws’ implementation.
DELAY WOULD KEEP 98% OVERTAXED
Speaking on the show, Oyedele argued that failure to commence the reforms would sustain an unfair tax burden on most Nigerian workers.
“The implication of not implementing the new tax laws by January 1, 2026, is that the bottom 98 per cent of workers remain overtaxed,” he said.
“Businesses will miss out on exemptions and will continue to pay multiple taxes, creating large burdens.
“Minimum taxes continue to apply on low and small unprofitable businesses, while hidden VAT keeps the prices of basic consumables like food, healthcare, and education high.”
Rather than halting the reforms, Oyedele said concerns over discrepancies should be isolated and resolved without suspending the entire framework.
“Even if it is established that there have been substantial alterations to what the national assembly passed, my view is to identify those provisions—they are not part of the law—then implement the law as passed by the NASS while addressing the issues as to how they got there in the first place,” he said.
He acknowledged that some provisions in the version approved by lawmakers would still require technical amendments.
“Even my committee and I have noted areas where we need to go back through Mr President to request amendments to those laws because of issues with referencing and definition,” he said.
Addressing the concern raised by Dasuki, Oyedele said lawmakers were best placed to confirm any discrepancies.
“Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we have what has not been gazetted. We don’t have what was passed.
“The official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the National Assembly sent to the President, we don’t have a copy to compare. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what we sent,” he said.
Oyedele also clarified confusion surrounding Section 41(8), which was alleged to impose a 20 per cent deposit requirement.
“I know that particular provision is not in the final gazette, but it was in the draft gazette. Some people decided to circulate the report before the committee had met,” he said.
He added that reports linking the provision to the committee were inaccurate, noting that they “did not come from the committee set up by the house of representatives.”
The four tax reform bills signed into law by President Bola Tinubu are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.
The laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all operating under the Nigeria Revenue Service.
Despite opposition from some northern lawmakers during the legislative process, the reforms are designed to streamline compliance, widen the tax base and modernise revenue administration.