President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform plans may be bold, but they arrive at a time when many Nigerians are barely making ends meet.
Development Diaries reports that in a recent development, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has backed the four bills presented to the National Assembly by President Tinubu, proposing some adjustments ‘to ensure equitable distribution of resources’.
While President Tinubu’s tax reform agenda aims to modernise tax laws and enhance revenue generation, there is a growing concern that it could become another burden on the struggling populace.
Inflation is soaring, the cost of living is unbearable, and essential goods are becoming luxuries for the average citizen.
Any reform that affects taxation must be approached with extreme caution, ensuring that it does not worsen the financial burden on struggling households.
What Nigerians need is a clear, transparent roadmap that shows how these tax policies will ease their suffering, not just increase government revenue. Without that, this reform will be seen as another way to extract more from people who already have little.
The governors’ endorsement of the reforms and their push for a new VAT-sharing formula may appear to be in the interest of fairness, but how will these additional resources benefit the people?
The debate over VAT-sharing formulas highlights an ongoing power struggle between federal and state governments over resource control.
While the governors’ revised formula appears more balanced than the federal government’s initial proposal, the bigger question remains, how will these revenues be utilised at the state level?
Without accountability mechanisms, increased allocations to states may not necessarily improve service delivery or development, leaving citizens to bear the weight of higher taxation with little to show for it.
Nigerians have heard promises before, what they need now is action, otherwise, this entire debate is just a negotiation between elites while ordinary citizens continue to struggle.
It is also crucial that governors commit to enforcing fair and just tax collection practices.
Many small businesses are already crumbling under multiple taxes and levies, while wealthy individuals and corporations often find ways to evade payments.
If state governments truly support tax reforms, they must ensure that the burden is not placed disproportionately on those who can least afford it.
A tax system that fails to protect the poor while giving room for the rich to escape their obligations is unjust and unacceptable.
Ultimately, Nigerians will not be convinced by policy documents or legislative processes alone. They need to see real impact – lower prices, better infrastructure, improved healthcare, and opportunities for economic stability.
If the government and governors cannot guarantee this, then tax reforms will only deepen the suffering of those already struggling to survive.
For these reforms to gain public trust, Development Diaries calls on both the federal and state governments to embrace transparency by regularly publishing comprehensive reports detailing tax revenues, expenditures, and their impact.
Nigerians deserve to know how these funds are being utilised, whether to pay bloated government overhead costs or to genuinely improve lives.