Manufacturers warn of shutdown over tax burden, infrastructure decay
The Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, and the Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences of the University of Delta, Agbor, Prof. Adesina Oladipupo, have urged governments to digitise tax administration, procurement systems, and financial reporting platforms to improve transparency, reduce corruption, and strengthen fiscal accountability.

They also called for the redesigning of accounting curricula to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, data analytics, and digital auditing.

According to them, to enhance ethical standards and professional integrity, accounting firms should strengthen ethical training, enforce disciplinary measures for misconduct, and promote strong governance mechanisms, such as internal controls, independent audit committees, and whistleblower protection systems.

The duo spoke yesterday, during the first International Conference on Accounting, Governance and Sustainable Development, organised by the Department of Accounting, College of Social and Management Sciences of ABUAD, held at the university’s campus.

In her welcome address, Olarinde noted that the integration of transformative digital technologies presents unprecedented opportunities to reinforce financial systems, curb corruption, and enhance trust in both public and private institutions.

In his lead paper presentation, Oladipupo highlighted issues, such as cybersecurity risks, digital skills gaps among accounting professionals, regulatory inertia, infrastructure deficits, and ethical concerns related to AI as barriers to the accounting system.

Relatedly, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has asked governments to simplify and unify taxes across all levels, saying that too many taxes and poor infrastructure are putting serious pressure on manufacturers.

Chairman of MAN, Apapa branch, Frank Onyebu, who advised while speaking with journalists in Lagos State, said businesses are facing very tough conditions because of too many taxes and weak infrastructure.

Onyebu said that tax officials from federal, state, and local councils often visited factories at the same time to collect different taxes.

This, according to him, creates financial stress and disrupts work, as firms sometimes have to stop production to attend to them.

He said that these repeated visits interrupt operations and make it harder for manufacturers to function properly.

Onyebu also called for an urgent and proper system that would combine and manage taxes better, noting that some government agencies even have multiple units collecting different taxes, which makes the problem worse.