President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to view tax compliance as an essential civic obligation for national development, while defending his administration’s difficult economic reforms at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali.
President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to recognize tax payment as a fundamental civic obligation necessary to finance critical infrastructure and secure the country’s economic future. Speaking on Friday, May 15, 2026, during a session at the 13th Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, the President expressed concern over a prevalent culture where citizens demand modern public amenities but resist contributing to the public purse. He emphasized that durable roads, well-equipped hospitals, and quality education systems cannot exist without a robust domestic tax base. “Nobody wants to pay taxes. Yet everyone expects development. You want good roads and well-equipped hospitals, but you don’t want to contribute through taxes. The question is: how do we fund development and secure the future of our children?,” the President asked, adding that “a citizen who pays tax is a citizen. If you are not paying taxes and not exempted, then you are not fulfilling your obligation.”
During the continental summit, themed “The Scale Imperative: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership,” Tinubu strongly defended the aggressive economic overhauls enacted by his administration, including the unification of the foreign exchange market and the termination of the petroleum subsidy regime. He described these policies as agonizing but vital interventions to halt systemic corruption and smuggling operations that bled national reserves. Reflecting on the precarious fiscal state of the country prior to these adjustments, he pointed out that local refineries were inactive while the federal government drained the nation’s wealth on unsustainable subsidies. “It was necessary to reset and reform the economy. We were spending future generations’ resources before they were born,” Tinubu noted, highlighting that 27 out of Nigeria’s 36 states had previously been unable to pay civil servants’ salaries despite the nation’s substantial oil profile.
Acknowledging the severe public backlash and domestic hardship triggered by the reforms, the President revealed that he temporarily stopped reading newspapers to remain focused on executing the difficult mandate. He assured the gathering of global business executives, policymakers, and investors that the administration’s fiscal adjustments have successfully navigated the worst of the economic transition. Tinubu asserted that early indicators now show a positive turnaround, with the local currency achieving a much-needed level of predictability. “Today, there is a very bright light at the end of the corner. The economy is stable. Nigeria is stable and predictable,” he stated, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to prioritizing local production, industrial growth, and transparent governance over an unsustainable reliance on debt and imports.
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