This is despite mounting backlash and allegations that the versions signed by President Bola Tinubu were not the same documents passed by the National Assembly.
The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, on Friday insisted that the Nigerian government would enforce the newly-signed tax laws from January 1, 2026.
This is despite mounting backlash and allegations that the versions signed by President Bola Tinubu were not the same documents passed by the National Assembly.
Oyedele made the declaration in Lagos after a closed-door briefing with President Tinubu. Also present at the meeting were Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman, Zacchaeus Adedeji, and Chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee, Joseph Tegbe.
“The plan to commence the new laws on January 1, 2026, will go ahead as planned,” Oyedele told journalists, claiming the reforms would “provide relief to the Nigerian people.”
According to him, 98 percent of workers will pay little to no Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) taxes, while 97 percent of small businesses will be exempt from Corporate Income Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax. Large companies, he claimed, would also see reduced tax burdens.
Tinubu had signed four tax reform bills on June 26, 2025 - a move the administration described as the biggest restructuring of Nigeria’s tax system in decades.
The laws are expected to create a unified authority called the Nigeria Revenue Service.
But the reforms have been hit by controversy and suspicion, with lawmakers accusing the executive of tampering with the bills after passage.
A member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised the alarm earlier in December, stating that the gazetted documents available to the public do not match what legislators debated and approved.
“Our legislative rights have been breached,” Dasuki said.
“What the President signed is not what we passed. Even I, a lawmaker, don’t have a certified copy of what was transmitted.”
He accused the Clerk of the National Assembly of failing to produce the harmonised and certified versions meant to be submitted to the Presidency, fuelling speculations that the executive may have doctored clauses behind closed doors.
The bills faced stiff resistance from northern lawmakers before their passage, with several members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) joining opposition voices to warn that the reforms could deepen regional economic inequality and concentrate revenue powers in the Presidency.
Civil society groups and industry bodies have condemned the speed of the rollout. Business owners warn that the reforms could trigger a compliance crisis, with banks already preparing to enforce new rules requiring Tax Identification Numbers for all taxable Nigerians before account access.
Opposition politicians have described the January 1 deadline as “arbitrary and reckless”, accusing Tinubu of attempting to railroad a multi-trillion-naira restructuring without transparency.
Meanwhile, the government has continued to deny any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated.
Despite the controversy, Oyedele doubled down, saying there is “no going back.”
The Nigerian government, he added, is “ready to work with the National Assembly to address concerns” - a statement analysts say confirms that Abuja is now scrambling to contain the scandal as the deadline approaches.
The tax laws would officially take effect midnight, January 1, 2026, unless parliament forces a suspension - a move insiders say may spark a constitutional confrontation in the new year.