THE Federal Government has intensified engagement with stakeholders in Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as part of efforts to strengthen coordination within the zones, boost production capacity and accelerate the country’s non-oil export drive.
  Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said a major concern for the government is the increasing diversion of goods produced within free zones into Nigeria’s customs territory while the operators continued to enjoy fiscal incentives designed primarily to support export-oriented activities.
  
She disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting on the Special Economic Zones yesterday, where she said the government had identified the ongoing tax reform process as a critical policy development with significant implications for the country’s SEZ ecosystem.
   According to her, this development has created an uneven competitive environment for manufacturers operating within the customs territory, who remained subject to the full domestic tax regime.
  
“Following the assumption of office in November 2024, we identified the ongoing tax reform process as a critical policy development with significant implications for Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ecosystem. A key policy concern was the increasing diversion of goods produced within Free Zones into the Nigerian customs territory whilst continuing to enjoy fiscal incentives designed primarily for export-oriented activities. This development has created an uneven competitive environment for manufacturers operating within the Customs Territory who remained subject to the full domestic tax regime,” she said.
 She recalled that at the Third Special Economic Zones Annual Meeting in February 2025, she had committed the ministry to aligning fiscal, monetary and trade policies to ensure that Nigeria’s zones remained globally competitive.
  
“When I stood before many of you at the Third Special Economic Zones Annual Meeting in February 2025 (Q1 last year), I made a commitment: that we would work to align fiscal, monetary and trade policy so that our zones remain globally competitive. This stakeholder engagement forms a part of that delivery process, which has been ongoing since then,” she said.
  She explained that following the February 2025 engagement, and in recognition of the need to preserve Nigeria’s competitiveness as an investment destination while strengthening fiscal accountability, the ministry embarked on extensive consultations with the legislative and executive arms of government, as well as private sector stakeholders, during the development of the tax reform process.
  
The engagements, she said, are aimed at ensuring that the impact of the tax legislation on the SEZs scheme aligns with their goals, particularly their focus on diversifying the economy through increased non-oil exports.
  She disclosed that in February 2026, she convened the directors of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment’s Legal Services and Commodities and Export Departments, the managing directors of both authorities overseeing the zones and their respective teams. She said the meeting led to the inauguration of the SEZs Legislative and Regulatory Reform Committee.
  
According to her, the committee has produced three key regulatory instruments: the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority Regulations and Operational Guidelines for Free Zones in Nigeria, 2025; the Nigeria Export Processing Zones (Domestic Sales, Fiscal Alignment and Customs Treatment) Regulations, 2026; and the Oil and Gas Export Free Zones (Domestic Sales, Fiscal Alignment and Customs Treatment) Regulations, 2026; all of which she said are the product of a whole-of-Ministry process and are being implemented through a whole-of-government approach.
  She urged stakeholders to collectively oppose practices that could undermine the integrity of the free zones scheme, including the diversion of goods, mispricing of related-party transactions, understating domestic sales and presenting businesses operating in the customs territory as zone-based enterprises.
  
“We must collectively stand against diversion of goods, mispricing related-party transactions, understating domestic sales, or dressing customs territory business in zone clothing. These unsavoury practices are not victimless practices and they are damaging the reputation, bringing the entire scheme at risk, particularly under the new tax regime,” she warned.
  Oduwole assured investors and operators that the Ministry would continue to protect investments and defend the competitiveness of the SEZ scheme.
  
However, she stressed that compliance with the applicable regulations was a prerequisite for the government’s continued defence of the scheme.
  “FMITI’s role is to protect your investment and to defend the competitiveness of this scheme at every forum where it is discussed; however, compliance is a condition precedent. The Ministry can only defend a clean scheme,” she said.