I Receive Threats Over Tax Reform Implementation — Oyedele

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has disclosed that he has faced personal threats in the course of implementing Nigeria’s comprehensive tax reforms, describing the experience as part of the challenge of restructuring a long-standing, “broken” system.

Oyedele made the revelation on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking at a governance colloquium held to mark the 50th birthday of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hajiya Hadiza Bala-Usman.

He said that the process of overhauling the fiscal framework, which culminated in the enactment and January 1, 2026 rollout of four major tax laws, has attracted both resistance and personal risk.

“Reforms are hard, and tax reforms are even harder. You need courage. I receive threats simply for trying to fix a broken system,” Oyedele said, outlining the intensity of opposition encountered by the reform team.

He attributed some of the resistance to deep-seated mistrust in government, a weak culture of tax compliance and poor public understanding of fiscal exchange mechanisms, all of which he said have complicated efforts to build support for the new tax regime.

“There is suddenly a national awareness, and people say the government has brought taxes all over the place, when in fact what we are doing is reducing the taxes they have been paying and harmonising them,” he explained.

Oyedele said comprehensive tax reform was necessary because Nigeria’s current revenue base remains “abysmally low” compared with peer economies, making structural changes inevitable for fiscal sustainability.

He warned that silence from reform supporters creates space for negative narratives to dominate public discourse.

The tax reforms, initiated under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, include the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Act 2025, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Act 2025.

These statutes took effect at the start of 2026 and represent a consolidated effort to modernise Nigeria’s tax framework and improve revenue mobilisation.

Oyedele defended the reform strategy as a necessary overhaul rather than a superficial adjustment to the fiscal system, saying it involves difficult but essential changes to improve long-term economic stability and governance.