• NPA, NIMASA may continue port revenue collection until NSW rollout
• Key agencies yet to get clear directives on changes in revenue administration
• Poor inter-agency coordination, leadership mar seamless migration
• Experts urge phased implementation
Despite the swift transition of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), reflecting its broader coverage as the sole national revenue collection agency, the effective implementation of the new tax architecture may be delayed by administrative rigidities and poor inter-agency coordination, The Guardian has learnt.
There seems to be a disconnect among NRS and agencies relevant to port operations – the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has ceased collecting royalties following the signing of the new Acts and handed over the responsibilities to the NRS legacy agency (FIRS).
But revenue collections at the ports, The Guardian learnt, may have to wait till the National Single Window (NSW) rollout in March, suggesting that the revenue collection harmonisation enforcement timeline is dependent on the long-awaited platform.
NSW was first initiated by the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Through the years, it has suffered serial inter-agency rivalries. But last year, President Bola Tinubu said the current administration was committed to its rollout, setting this quarter as the take-off date.
User acceptance testing of the NSW started last year with the promise that the full rollout was scheduled for this quarter. As of press time, there was no definite date for its takeoff.
But a port official hinted at a lack of inter-agency coordination, even as there are claims that timelines are yet to be communicated to personnel relevant for driving seamless transition.
On his part, the National Spokesperson of the NCS, Dr Abdullahi Maiwada, said the government would set up an implementation committee or inter-ministerial implementation committee on how the revenue collection process will be implemented.
“I cannot say anything about revenue collection. I cannot speak on behalf of the government. The government will set up a kind of implementation committee, an inter-ministerial implementation committee, on how to implement it. It is a very sensitive issue that has to do with the entire government,” he said.
Maiwada said the NCS is working closely with the NRS to ensure the NSW operationalisation this quarter of 2026 is realised, adding that all Customs processes for clearing goods would be integrated into the platform.
He, however, said the NRS could explain how the NSW would be integrated into its revenue collection process when it eventually takes off.
Also, the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA, Ikechukwu Onyemekara, said implementation of the new revenue collection framework was not an immediate action.
“When all agencies begin implementation, of course, we will follow the Federal Government directive. You wait and do not ask whether we have started.
“To me, I think it’s premature to do that. I think that normal implementation will take a bit of time. Every revenue generator will, of course, comply with the new laws.”
According to the letters of the new four laws, the NCS is expected to have relinquished its revenue collection duties to the newly established Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) as part of the new national tax reforms.
The four Acts are: the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025 and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.
The NRS is now the sole agency responsible for the assessment and collection of various federal revenues, including those previously managed by the NCS, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The change is intended to allow agencies like the customs service to concentrate on their core, non-revenue mandates, such as trade facilitation and border security.
Section 4 of the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act says that: ‘NRS shall collate and continually review all policies of the government relating to taxation and revenue generation and undertake a systematic and progressive implementation of such policies.’
Also, sub-section (q) tasked the service with the issuance of a taxpayer identification or any other equivalent identity to every relevant taxable person in collaboration with the tax authorities of states or local governments or the joint revenue board.
While the administration of President Bola Tinubu insisted the new framework was critical to stabilising public finances and reducing reliance on debt, unresolved implementation gaps and continued public resistance have introduced a layer of uncertainty into the operating environment.
For businesses, the central issue is no longer whether tax reform was necessary, but whether it could be executed in a way that supports growth, predictability and competitiveness.
Amid a lack of clarity, the House of Representatives released the versions of the law it passed, insisting that the laws were not ‘doctored’ as widely claimed.
Taiwo Oyedele, who heads the tax reform committee, recently said that without decisive reform, macroeconomic stability would remain fragile, undermining long-term growth prospects.
As Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Oyedele has been a key voice explaining the changes.
He insisted the new laws were structured to eliminate multiple taxation and protect small businesses, noting that unauthorised levies were explicitly prohibited and would be sanctioned.
On different platforms, Oyedele had continued to highlight provisions to exempt small companies from major taxes and reduce corporate rates, aiming to encourage formalisation and investment.
He said: “The new tax laws clearly prohibit multiple taxation and unauthorised levies by any tier of government… Any agency acting outside the law is doing so illegally and will be sanctioned.”
While Oyedele and other notable tax experts speak from a policy perspective that reform was inevitable, markets are sensitive not only to policy intent, but to process, clarity and institutional coherence, experts have said.
For investors, uncertainty around the legal foundation of policy was considered a risk because the business community needed clarity on what rules apply, not shifting interpretations.
While the National Assembly releases the certified true copies of the bills at the weekend, it may help restore confidence, analysts noted that early-stage ambiguity often leaves a lasting imprint on investor perception.
Organised private sector groups have expressed mixed reactions. While welcoming the stated goal of harmonising taxes and reducing inefficiencies, they cautioned that the reforms may not immediately eliminate multiple taxation, particularly at the federal-state interface.
In the near term, experts expect the controversy to create frictions such as delays in compliance decisions, cautious capital expenditure and possible disputes between taxpayers and authorities.
In the longer term, however, the reforms could strengthen Nigeria’s fiscal position if legal ambiguities are resolved, communication improves and enforcement is applied transparently.
Port users and operators said they are still in confusion. While port users and operators said port charges and levies were still paid to NCS, NPA and NIMASA, as it was done previously, they also said there were no official notices or directives issued at least on critical timelines.
Under the new tax law, NRS now handles the collection of port duties, taxes and other levies previously managed by the NCS, NPA and NIMASA through the integrated NRS platform, via designated banks and ensuring electronic payment confirmation for consignment release.
Members of the Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN) and the Association of West African Exporters and Maritime Professionals (AWAEMAP) confirmed that there had been no operational change in revenue and levy collection since January 1, 2026, the implementation of the NRS framework.
Speaking on behalf of the operators in his capacity as the President of BOAN and the President of AWAEMAP, Olubunmi Olumekun, said statutory charges and levies were still paid to NPA and NIMASA as before, without any directive by both agencies on the new channel for payment to NRS.
“As far as operations are concerned, nothing has changed. From what we see on the ground, operators are still paying charges to NPA, NIMASA and Customs the same way they did after January 1,” he said.
A member of the Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA), Sola Olatunji, said indigenous shipowners operating in the country are still awaiting official directives from NIMASA, NPA and NCS on the new payment system.
Olatunji explained that although NISA members had not fully resumed operations with the hope of commencing during the week, it assured that everyone would comply with the new policy framework.
He, however, added that the new arrangement had effectively made compliance mandatory for operators in the sector, even though details of the implementation were yet to be fully communicated by the regulatory agencies in the maritime sector.
Also, the National Public Relations Officer for AREFFN, Taiwo Fatomilola, confirmed that importers and clearing agents still pay duties and other levies to the Nigeria Customs Service account.
Fatomilola explained that freight forwarders, importers and clearing agents still make statutory payments to Customs, but with a new structure that links Customs’ revenue accounts to the central revenue framework under the NRS.
He further clarified that payments and collections still reflected under the Nigeria Customs Service on the relevant dashboards, which has led to confusion among some stakeholders.
Experts have called on the Federal Government to consider phased implementation of the new tax laws if it hopes to achieve some level of success.
They noted that the stiff resistance shown by Nigerians towards the new tax laws arose not from outright rejection of the laws, but out of fear, lack of trust and poor understanding of what the new laws really were all about.
They argued that with phased implementation, starting with the formal sector, the government would have enough time to educate the informal sector groups, which form the bulk of the Nigerian economy.
The phased timeframe, they argued, would also allow the government to demonstrate sincerity of purpose through accountability, transparency and effective use of tax revenue to provide social amenities which the people are currently providing for themselves.
Godwin Oyedokun, a professor of accounting and financial development at Lead City University, said the controversies surrounding Nigeria’s new tax laws were real, but stemmed more from fear and poor understanding than from outright rejection of taxation.
He said technically, the new tax laws were not designed simply to increase rates, but noted a major weakness lay in communication.
At the inception of the current government, the tax-to-GDP ratio was less than 10 per cent. Though it is said to have risen to 13 per cent by the end of 2025, it is a far cry from what is obtained in other African countries.
For example, South Africa has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 25 per cent; Senegal has 19.6 per cent, while Egypt maintains 16.5 per cent and Ghana, 15 per cent.
The target of the new revenue agency is to take Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent by 2027. This appears to be an easy task, given the progressive improvements in revenue collection achieved by the defunct FIRS in the last three years.
According to available data, the FIRS raked in a total of N10.1 trillion in 2022, a figure considered to be record-breaking.
In 2023, it increased the figure to N12.37 trillion, while in 2024, it recorded a quantum leap of N21.6 trillion.
As of September 2025, the agency announced it had collected N22.59 trillion year-to-date (YTD)
