Nigerians are too poor, taxing them will provoke resistance - Sowore
Former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticised Nigeria’s new tax reforms, warning that policies which place additional burdens on poor citizens could trigger public resistance.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, the human rights activist said Nigerians were already grappling with severe economic pressure and should not be subjected to increased taxation.
“Anybody who taxes poverty will reap resistance, because Nigerians are just too poor right now,” Sowore said.
He argued that tax reforms should prioritise expanding the tax base rather than imposing higher taxes on citizens who are already overburdened. According to him, Nigeria’s challenge lies more in the narrow scope of tax collection than in tax rates.
“What I have always proposed is that we expand our tax base, not to increase taxes. We are not doing well in terms of how much taxes we are collecting,” he said, adding that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio lags behind several African countries.
Sowore also questioned the credibility of official data used to justify the reforms, accusing the government of inconsistencies and lack of transparency.
“Any time you see data presented by these guys on statistics, lies and lies. You never get anything correct from them. At the end of the day, there will be resistance,” he said.
He further alleged discrepancies between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and those later gazetted.
“A tax system that starts with fraud is not taxation; it is extortion,” Sowore added.
The Federal Government recently introduced four tax reform laws: the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.
Although implementation began on January 1, 2026, controversy followed claims that the versions in circulation differed from those approved by lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has reacted to the allegations, saying the documents circulating online were unauthorised drafts.
He described them as “fake,” noting that the errors had been corrected.
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