Oyedele Blames Low Tax Awareness for Panic Over Nigeria’s New Reforms

|By Babatunji Wusu

Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has attributed the growing anxiety among Nigerians over the country’s new tax reforms to poor public awareness rather than to the substance of the laws.

Oyedele spoke to journalists at the weekend amid rising concerns ahead of the January 2026 implementation of the 2025 Nigeria Tax Administration Act. He said much of the information circulating and causing panic is not new but already exists in earlier legislation.

According to him, provisions on the Tax Identification Number (TIN), Taxpayer Identification Number, and banks’ monthly reporting obligations on customers’ accounts are contained in the 2020 Finance Act. However, low tax literacy has made many Nigerians encounter these requirements for the first time.

“Because the level of tax awareness in Nigeria is so poor, people are just discovering many things now,” Oyedele said. “They assume the new tax law is introducing them, but it is not.”

He dismissed claims that the new tax framework empowers banks or government agencies to withdraw money arbitrarily from private accounts, stressing that such actions are not supported by law.

“No bank, government, or private authority has the power to debit your account arbitrarily,” Oyedele said. “Even if you have ₦1 billion in your account, nobody can just take money from it.”

He explained that tax enforcement follows a defined legal process, including formal notices, responses from taxpayers, final assessments, and, where necessary, court proceedings.

Oyedele added that while the law recognises what is known as the “power of substitution”—similar to a garnishee order in other jurisdictions—it does not permit indiscriminate debiting of personal accounts.

His remarks come as the Federal Government intensifies preparations for the rollout of the 2025 Nigeria Tax Administration Act, with officials urging increased public education to address misconceptions and restore confidence ahead of its January 2026 take-off.