Business
Nigeria Launches Major Tax Reforms to Boost Growth
Nigeria implements major tax reforms to simplify levies, enhance transparency, and support business growth under a harmonised national framework
Nigeria’s tax system is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in decades, with Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Mr Olusegun Adesokan, describing the reforms as a turning point for national fiscal governance.
Also read: Double Taxation Explained: Do Nigerians Abroad Pay Tax in Two Countries?
In his article, “A New Fiscal Dawn: How Nigeria’s Tax Reforms Are Laying the Foundation for National Renewal,” Adesokan explained that the changes are a comprehensive restructuring of tax governance, collection, and revenue sharing, aimed at resolving inefficiencies that have long hindered the system.
The reform programme, driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has already resulted in four key laws: the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act.
These laws create a unified legal and institutional framework to streamline the tax system.
“For the first time in a long while, we now have a coordinated framework that modernises our tax ecosystem and aligns it with global best practices,” Adesokan said.
The reforms aim not only to increase revenue but also to make taxation fairer, more transparent, and less burdensome for small businesses and low-income earners.
Adesokan emphasised that close to 60 different taxes, levies, and charges are being consolidated into just nine categories to improve clarity and predictability for taxpayers.
The Joint Revenue Board has also introduced a Model States Taxes and Levies Harmonisation Law to guide state governments in aligning with the national framework.
To date, twelve states have enacted versions of the law, with others consulting stakeholders and moving through legislative processes.
Adesokan highlighted that the reforms target unauthorised roadside collections, promote electronic payment channels, and standardise assessment and collection processes, reducing corruption and revenue leakages.
“When taxes are clear, fair, and predictable, investors are more confident. The cost of doing business reduces, and that supports economic growth,” he said, noting that public understanding of taxation is gradually improving.
Also read: NEFGAD Demands Urgent Probe of Altered Tax Laws
The reforms are designed to support enterprise, strengthen institutions, and provide a stable foundation for sustainable development across Nigeria.
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TotalEnergies and Nigerian independent energy company AMNI International have taken the Final Investment Decision on the $800 million Ima Gas Project, more than five decades after the gas field was discovered.
The Ima Gas Project, located in shallow waters across Oil Mining Leases 112 and 117 near Bonny Island, Rivers State, is expected to begin production in 2028 and reach a plateau of 350 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The development is expected to play a major role in supplying feed gas to Nigeria LNG, with the Ima field projected to provide about one-third of the additional gas required for the ongoing Train 7 expansion.
Train 7 is expected to increase Nigeria LNG’s liquefaction capacity from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 million tonnes per annum, strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to process and export liquefied natural gas.
The Ima field was discovered in 1973 but remained undeveloped for more than 50 years. The Final Investment Decision provides the commercial and financial basis for finally developing the long-dormant resource.
Under the development plan, TotalEnergies will operate the project with a 40 per cent interest, while AMNI will hold the remaining 60 per cent.
The field will be developed using a single offshore platform connected to Nigeria LNG’s facility on Bonny Island through a 22-kilometre pipeline.
TotalEnergies said its investment in the project is more than $600 million, while the Federal Government described the overall Final Investment Decision as an $800 million investment.
At the FID signing ceremony in Abuja, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Managing Director, Mathieu Bouyer, described the decision as the culmination of a development process that had stretched across several decades.
He said the project reflected increased confidence in Nigeria’s investment environment and highlighted reforms targeting the non-associated gas sector as part of the factors that helped make the development commercially viable.
President Bola Tinubu welcomed the investment, saying the project demonstrated the potential of reforms introduced to reduce the cost and time required to develop oil and gas projects.
The President said the government had introduced incentives aimed specifically at unlocking onshore and shallow-water gas projects that had remained undeveloped for years.
He said the Ima development would create opportunities for Nigerian businesses, engineers, technicians and contractors, while generating jobs, economic activity in host communities and additional export earnings.
The project is also expected to have a strong Nigerian content component. TotalEnergies said all key contractors for the development would be Nigerian companies, while about 60 per cent of the workforce during the development phase is expected to come from host communities.
The development will incorporate measures aimed at reducing emissions. TotalEnergies said the platform would receive electricity from shore, operate without routine flaring and use permanent methane detection and monitoring systems.
The Federal Government said the project is part of efforts to turn Nigeria’s large natural gas reserves into productive assets capable of supporting industrialisation, energy supply, jobs and export earnings.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said the Ima development illustrated the importance of creating commercial and investment conditions that allow previously stranded resources to be developed.
The government also noted that Nigerian financial institutions arranged 77 per cent of the project’s financing, further highlighting the participation of domestic financial institutions in the development.
For Nigeria LNG, the project comes as the company continues work on the Train 7 expansion, which is designed to increase the Bonny Island plant’s liquefaction capacity and strengthen the country’s position in the global LNG market.
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