The tax reform project of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu lacked credibility from day one. His government has not earned the trust of Nigerians. In the 2023 election campaigns, Tinubu promised to unleash prosperity. In less than two years, his economic policies have made Nigerians far poorer than they were in May 2023. Currency devaluation and sundry taxes have left millions of citizens struggling to survive.

The idea that government was to introduce tax reforms fueled citizens’ suspicions and distrust. Despite the avalanche of campaigns to explain the new laws, millions of citizens remain stranded. They can’t understand the details, but are just trapped, waiting for whatever hardship government delivers in 2026. Then the unexpected happened. Forgeries were reported in the gazetted copies, different from what the National Assembly debated, harmonised and passed.

The lawmakers are elected to represent the people and protect their interests. Where government policies are harsh, lawmakers can intervene to soften the pains. Apparently, that was what the legislators attempted to do with the tax laws, but somewhere between the National Assembly and the Presidency, colonial-era clauses were smuggled in to add to the economic pains of citizens.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic (1999 with amendments), provides an economic template (Economic Objectives) within which this government must derive its economic policies. In Chapter Two, Section 16 (1), the Constitution States: “The State shall harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy for every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.” But this government has insisted on policies that endanger the wellbeing of citizens.

The Constitution further directs that the State shall direct its policy towards ensuring the promotion of a planned and balanced economic development, not a rushed and doubtful tax policies that impoverishes, in the name of generating revenues.

This government has abandoned the Constitution and has pursued anti-people policies with no human face. The tax laws are a cut and paste imports from templates of developed societies that are still perfecting their social justice systems for decades: countries that have reliable census data and social security for the unemployed, the aged and schoolchildren.

We are blindly copying societies where wives of presidents or prime ministers don’t distribute cash in handbags to groups that are not captured in the national data, without a trace of the sources and the taxes derived from such expenditure.We are duplicating tax laws from societies where social security for the elderly is not political charity to be paid back during election.

We are talking about countries where children and wives of the political class don’t have access to non-taxable slush funds. We are unintelligently aping tax laws of countries where their politicians don’t launder allocations to buy properties in foreign countries.

That is the dubious background. That a political system that has perfected tax fraud is the one championing reforms. The common man doing menial tasks and struggling to live from hand to mouth fears he is the target. Tinubu promised in his 2023 election campaigns to ‘widen the tax net.’

Let him remember that millions of citizens don’t have access to public potable water. They provide their private boreholes. They pay for their education and health needs. They enjoy zero social security from government. These are the people government wants to forcefully extract more taxes from. The purported exemption for low wage earners is an insult. Citizens don’t deserve ridiculously low wages in the first place. It is no commendation.

Citizens’ present state of despondency is compounded by the conspiracy in certain strongholds, where traditional agitators and so-called defenders of democracy, have put activism on hold. In the past, if there were chances for national protests to force the hand of government, certain regional demagogues must be involved.

But since the coming of Tinubu, they see no wrongs in policies of government. And the government is emboldened to mutate into a dictatorship where draconian tax laws are forced through.

The reported alteration to the tax laws is a weighty matter, despite the haughty disposition in government. A lawmaker, Abdussamad Dasuki (whistle-blower), had on December 17, raised an issue under a matter of privilege, drawing attention of the House to the discrepancies between the harmonised versions of the tax bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and the copies gazetted by the Federal Government.

Later, a report compiled by concerned lawmakers confirmed that the alterations cannot be explained away as mere ‘clerical or editorial corrections.’ According to the report, following concerns that the tax bills had been altered after they were passed, the House raised a Post-Passage Alteration Committee to investigate the discrepancies between what the Assembly Clerk certified and the gazetted final versions of the Acts.

The report said the Committee’s review, supported by forensic tools and independent legal opinions established that substantive provisions were inserted, deleted or modified after passage by both chambers. Oversight, accountability and reporting mechanisms approved by the parliament were removed in the final Acts.

The report added that new coercive and fiscal powers to arrest and garnish without court order, compulsory dollar computation, appeal security deposits, were smuggled into the final Acts. The report established that, “these changes cannot be classified as clerical or editorial corrections.”

This is a crime against the people and an affront on the constitutional authority of the legislature. The executive has no powers to tamper with what the legislature has passed, but he may decline assent. The whistleblowers in the House must be commended.

The House as a whole deserves accolade for being swift to expose and verify the scam. In a serious democratic country, this is a punishable offence. But the Jagaban has put the Senate to sleep. They’re exploring unconstitutional back-channels to cover the crime.

Reactions to the forgery report have been strident, demanding that government suspends implementation in the meantime, to clear the air and establish culpability.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in a statement last Tuesday, said the controversies surrounding the tax laws threaten the integrity, transparency and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process. NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, in the statement warned that the issue strikes at the heart of constitutional governance and called for a comprehensive investigation to affirm public confidence.

He said: “The Nigerian Bar Association considers it imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process. Until these are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should immediately be suspended.”

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has equally charged government to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws, until a nationwide campaign is conducted. NLC said it was never consulted before government forced the laws through.

NLC spokesperson, Benson Upah, said, Nigerian workers, the largest tax-paying group in the country, was not consulted in the processes that led to the passage and signing of the laws.
He said: “We were not consulted before these tax laws were put in place, and yet, we are the biggest tax-paying community in the country. We did write to the government when the tax committee was being constituted, requesting for inclusion, but we were studiedly ignored, and since this became law, no one has taken the initiative to do a public enlightenment for our members.

Very appalling. Spokespersons of government, have true to type, arrogantly postured that nothing will stop the implementation, beginning this week. One can only urge them to listen to the voice of the people, which is the voice of God.

Let them realise that the mass protests that came close to unseating President William Ruto of Kenya, in 2025, was traced to his arbitrary introduction of the Kenya Finance Bill, which proposed an increase in taxation. They may go and ask Ruto how he survived.

Vast constituents are wondering why this government demonstrates insatiable craving for taxes, yet has little to show for expanded revenues, including subsidy savings. Let government not take Nigerians for granted.
U.S. Airstrikes in Sokoto

After the United States’ government designated Nigeria, a Country of Particular Concern in October, President Donald Trump instructed the Department of War to prepare for a showdown with terrorists that are making life difficult for Nigerians.

Diplomatic efforts were stepped up by government to address the concerns of the U.S. government. A delegation led by the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, visited the U.S., and had sessions with Congress Committees and the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. There was a fact-finding visit by U.S. Congressman Riley Moore, along with others to the country.

Matters seemed to be under control at the diplomatic level. Someone in government boasted that the misunderstanding had been resolved and there would be no need for the U.S. to deploy forces.

In that interval, President Tinubu appointed a new Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Christopher Musa Retd. Then the more than 300 schoolchildren and staff abducted from St Mary’s Secondary School, Papiri, Niger State, on November 21, were returned home in bits, in foggy circumstances only government could explain.

There were other abductions in Kogi and traces of terrorism in Benue. In between, President Tinubu made unclear statements regarding who are terrorists. His Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi, had to re-echo, which still remained unclear. The implication is that Trump wasn’t impressed.

On Friday, last week, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), confirmed that the United States had bombed ISIS terrorists around Sokoto, the previous night. The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Samaila Uba, said armed forces of Nigeria in conjunction with the United States conducted the precision strikes.

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed that the operation was jointly carried out with Nigeria, and had been planned for some time. He said the operation was assisted by intelligence provide by Nigeria, and did not rule out the possibility of further strikes.

The airstrikes have serious implications for the fight against terrorism as well as political cohesion. Time will tell.