• Denies suspension of tax law guidelines
• Experts unveil compliance strategies, investment opportunities
• Cost of doing business still high, says DG LCCI

Chair of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, yesterday, promised manufacturers that the tax reforms will reduce the cost of doing business, boost investment and accelerate industrial growth.
  
While saying he could die for Nigeria as a reformer, he denied a report claiming that the Federal Government paused the issuance of implementation guidelines for the new tax laws due to uncertainty.
  
However, former Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, said Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio remained critically low at below 10 per cent, compared to an African average of approximately 16 per cent, as stakeholders prepare for a major economic summit focused on navigating the country’s ongoing tax reforms.
  
Speaking yesterday at MAN House during a stakeholders’ engagement with the theme, ‘From Legislative Assembly to Factory Floor: What the New Tax Laws Mean for Nigerian Manufacturers’, Oyedele said the changes that affect manufacturers include Value-Added Tax (VAT) not applying to supplies of locally manufactured sanitary towels, pads or tampons and assistive devices and disability-related products, as well as zero-rated supplies which include fertilisers, locally-produced agricultural chemicals, veterinary medicine and animal feeds.
  
Speaking further, he said charging and collection of VAT on petroleum products, renewable energy equipment, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and other gaseous hydrocarbons might be suspended by an Order from the minister.
   
Explaining input tax credit, he said input VAT on taxable supplies, including services and fixed
assets, might be deducted from the output VAT payable, but only to the extent the input tax was incurred for making taxable supplies.
   
Oyedele, during the Cowry Quarterly Economic Discourse held at the Capital Club, Victoria Island, Lagos, noted that the law had already provided automatic capital gains tax exemptions for individuals whose total proceeds from asset disposal do not exceed N150 million, provided the gain is not more than N10 million in a year.

The discourse with the theme ‘Nigeria in 2026: Will Politics Trump Economic Reform?’ was to provide clarity in times of uncertainty, context in times of change, and direction in times of decision-making.
  
On a media report that the Federal Government had halted the issuance of guidelines for the implementation of the new tax laws, he explained that the development prompted him to instruct his team to obtain a printed copy of the laws from the government printer, as stipulated by the Acts Authentication Act.
  
The report had quoted Oyedele as having instructed the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) to wait because the final version of the laws was unclear.
  
He noted that while the government printer initially published a version considered official by the executive, lawmakers later disputed it, insisting that it did not reflect what was passed by the National Assembly.
  
According to him, the legislature subsequently undertook its own review process and produced separate gazetted copies, which were shared in soft copy.
  
However, Oyedele said his team was unable to obtain a printed copy from the government printer, as officials reportedly informed them that all printed copies had been taken by the National Assembly and should not be made available to the public until lawmakers conclude their review.

Meanwhile, speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, Akabueze said the gap had driven the government’s push to expand the tax base, strengthen enforcement, and improve efficiency in tax administration.
  
The summit, scheduled for January 24 at RCCG Christ Church, Gbagada, Lagos, is designed to empower participants with knowledge and tools to navigate Nigeria’s evolving economic landscape.
  
Akabueze, an RCCG pastor, noted that Nigeria is undergoing one of the most significant reform cycles in its history, covering taxation, fiscal policy, exchange rate management, and market liberalisation.
  
The summit will feature the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh, as keynote speaker, who will address the current administration’s economic reforms and investment opportunities.