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Taiwo Oyedele chaired the committee. Recommendations form the basis of the 2024 tax reform bills (Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, Joint Revenue Board Bill, NRS Bill) transmitted to NASS October 2024.
Tinubu2024· Fate: Bills before NASS· Chapter II · Law
Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms
Chair: Taiwo Oyedele. Basis of the 2024 tax reform bills overhauling VAT distribution, PIT bands and corporate taxation.
The dossier
- Formal title
- Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee — Final Report
- Chair
- Mr Taiwo Oyedele
- Convened by
- President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
- Inaugurated
- 8 August 2023
- Submitted
- Quick-wins report October 2023; final recommendations and draft bills October 2024
- Published
- Four executive bills transmitted to the National Assembly on 3 October 2024; signed into law 26 June 2025 as the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, effective 1 January 2026
- Scale
- About 80 members drawn from the public and private sectors and the professions
- Status
- Implemented — the most comprehensive rewrite of Nigerian tax law since 1993
Terms of reference
To review and redesign Nigeria's fiscal system: tax law, tax administration, revenue-sharing and the growth impact of the tax burden, with a target tax-to-GDP ratio of 18% within three years.
What it found
- Nigeria's tax-to-GDP ratio, at roughly 10%, was among the lowest in the world, while the number of taxes levied — over 60 official and many unofficial — was among the highest.
- Multiple taxation fell hardest on small businesses and the informal sector, which contributed little revenue but bore heavy compliance cost.
- The VAT distribution formula, based largely on where remittance was filed rather than where consumption occurred, systematically advantaged the States hosting corporate headquarters.
- Numerous corporate incentives and waivers cost substantial revenue without demonstrable investment effect.
What it recommended
- Consolidate the major tax statutes into a single Nigeria Tax Act; harmonise collection under a renamed Nigeria Revenue Service in place of the FIRS.
- Exempt businesses with turnover below ₦50m from company income tax, and exempt low-income earners from personal income tax entirely.
- Zero-rate VAT on food, education, healthcare, rent and transport; allow full input-VAT credit on assets and services.
- Reweight VAT derivation towards place of consumption; raise the top personal income tax band to 25% for the highest earners.
- Phase down company income tax from 30% to 25% and replace scattered incentives with a single development levy.
What became of it
The bills passed only after a bruising fight over the VAT derivation formula, in which the Northern Governors' Forum and the National Economic Council both sought withdrawal; the final compromise settled derivation at 30% rather than the proposed 60%. Signed on 26 June 2025 and commencing 1 January 2026, the four Acts are the rare case in this register of a Nigerian committee report that became binding law within two years of submission.
What it cost — political & economic reality
The political and economic reality
Nigeria in 2024: who was in charge, the cabinet of the day, the GDP, and the crises that defined the period.
President · Fourth Republic
Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu
2023–present· APC
National reality
Fuel subsidy removed at inauguration (29 May 2023); naira floated June 2023. Inflation at multi-decade highs (>30% YoY in 2024). Student loan scheme (NELFUND) launched 2024. WAEC torchlight exam controversy (2025).
Crises of the period
- Cost-of-living crisis 2023–25
- WAEC torchlight examinations (2025)
- JAMB CBT technical failures (2025)
- Naira free-fall 2023–24
GDP (World Bank)
≈ $363 bn (2023, post-float)
Cabinet (selected portfolios)
- Finance
Wale Edun (Coordinating Minister of the Economy)
- Justice (AGF)
Lateef Fagbemi (SAN)
- Education
Tahir Mamman (2023–24); Tunji Alausa (2024– )
Sources · Federal Gazette 2023– · CBN · NBS
Methodology
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.