31/07/2025
𝗙𝗚 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲 60-𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗪𝗲𝗯 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵
The Federal Government has launched a major initiative to dismantle the complex system of overlapping taxes imposed by roughly 60 tax-collecting agencies across the federal, state, and local levels. According to Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee, this tax proliferation, which includes more than 60 approved taxes plus hundreds of unapproved levies, is throttling Nigeria’s digital economy, especially the telecom sector.
At the inaugural Annual Workshop for State Attorneys-General organized by the NCC in Lagos, Oyedele highlighted how a single truck might bear over 70 tax stickers as it traverses the country, illustrating the chaotic and burdensome nature of the system. Similarly, telecom companies face as many as 49 different levies, from signage fees to ecological charges, often imposed without coordination or legitimacy.
Rather than expanding taxation, the government has focused on rationalizing and harmonizing existing duties, with steps taken to consolidate tax collection. The reform has exempted 97% of the informal sector, and eliminated withholding tax for vulnerable groups. It’s also submitted constitutional amendments to streamline state and local levies and dismantle archaic charges like bicycle and wheelbarrow taxes.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Maida warned that if tax policy remains misaligned with digital priorities, it will continue choking investment and delaying infrastructure expansion. The telecom sector—already vital with over 220 million voice subscriptions and broadband pe*******on over 50%, is seen as central to Nigeria’s inclusive digital growth iff freed from tax burdens.
Attorney-General of the Federation & Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) described the situation as economic sabotage, urging legal harmonization, uniform policies, and constitutional clarity to curb exploitation, streamline tax codes, and protect digital rights.
