President Bola Tinubu's proposed tax policies faced fresh opposition on Wednesday, days before their planned launch, as a new opposition group urged the president to halt implementation or risk mass protests.
The group, operating under the auspices of the National Opposition Movement, called on the President not to proceed with the implementation of the new national tax policy set to take effect on January 1, 2026, and vowed to stage mass protests if its appeal is not heeded.
The group's spokesperson, Chile Igbavua, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday on the implications of the new policy, said the opposition will work with ordinary Nigerians to protest the taxes if the government insists on going ahead.
Igbavua described the reforms as anti-people, adding that, contrary to official claims, the policy “is not a tax reform; it is an attack on the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.”
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This comes against the backdrop of a decline in projected revenue for the 2026 budget, estimated at N54.46 trillion, a development that has the potential to put the administration under pressure in 2026.
Already, the National Assembly has mandated the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which will be renamed the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) from January 2026, to increase its revenue target for 2026 from an estimated N31 trillion to about N35 trillion.
Citing several challenges facing Nigerians, the group said the country is at the brink of multidimensional failure.
“It is unsafe to travel in Nigerian cities. Poverty is getting worse, and homelessness and hunger are realities that Nigerians face. Never in the history of the country has life been so short, so brutal and so miserable for citizens.
“Global economic indices rate Nigeria as the country with the lowest quality of life, even lower than poorer neighbors such as Benin, Togo and Niger.”
The group said the Federal Government is exacerbating this multidimensional failure by prioritizing political interests over the security and welfare of Nigerians.
“As Nigeria moves towards multidimensional failure, many patriotic citizens are concerned that the imminent collapse of Nigerian democracy, driven by incompetence and corruption under the Tinubu administration, could seriously worsen the security and human development crisis in West Africa.
“These citizens are now coming together under the umbrella of the National Opposition Movement so that we can monitor the developments around security and prosperity under the mismanagement of the Tinubu administration and raise our voices as sentinels of national liberation and transformation.
“We are concerned that the many failures of the Tinubu administration have not received the right response from the Nigerian political class.”
The group further described the situation in Nigeria as “terrible”, noting that many Nigerians can barely afford food, transportation, security, electricity bills or rent.
“It is regrettable that at a time like this the Tinubu administration is preparing to implement the most punitive and exploitative tax regime in the history of Nigeria,” it said.
“Even the colonial authorities, in their wickedness, did not contemplate taxing poor Nigerians in the way Tinubu had planned at the beginning of the year. This administration's approach shows that Nigerians will be hit with an exploitative and inhumane tax regime in January when they will lack the fiscal space to make such sacrifices.
“This tax arrangement points to the thoughtlessness of the Tinubu administration and its unwavering commitment to serving the financial interests of the oligarchs at the expense of ordinary Nigerians, who continue to be penalized by multiple taxes and rising prices.”
“Let us be clear: what President Tinubu is doing in January is not tax reform; it is an attack on the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians, whose prosperity is not part of this government’s agenda.
“We stand with Nigerian workers, traders, professionals and small businesses.
“We will oppose any policy that punishes the poor by using it as an excuse for failure of leadership.
“If this tax plan is implemented without suspension and consultation, the government will be solely responsible for the social and economic consequences. This is not a threat; it is a warning based on reality. Nigeria is suffering.
“The suffering of the Nigerian people has limits. The crisis in West Africa is a crisis of irresponsible governance, authoritarian rule without accountability and state capture driven by greed and ego.
“Nigeria must be saved from the misfortune of provoking conflict that could destroy the prospects for democracy and development. The government must stop inciting Nigerians and suppressing the voices of opposition politicians, labor leaders and civil society.
“Tinubu must let Nigerians breathe. Enough poverty, enough insecurity, enough burdening citizens and enough attacks on opposition leaders. As the year draws to a close, Nigerians are rejecting what we describe as incompetence of governance and its assault on the integrity and stability of the Nigerian state.”
