Finally, Taiwo Oyedele admits to manual errors in Nigeria’s new tax laws

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, has admitted that the nation’s new tax reform laws contain “manual” errors and procedural inconsistencies, promising to rectify the discrepancies through a forthcoming Finance Bill

Taiwo Oyedele, the newly appointed Minister of State for Finance, has acknowledged that several errors and inconsistencies were embedded in Nigeria’s recently enacted tax reform laws during the legislative and gazetting processes. Speaking on Friday, April 10, 2026, during a fireside chat at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Legal Practice conference in Lagos, Oyedele attributed these lapses to “manual processes and multiple stages of review” that occurred before the final versions were published. The Minister’s admission follows a formal legislative probe launched by the House of Representatives into allegations that the gazetted versions of the Nigerian Tax Act (NTA) and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) differ significantly from the drafts originally passed by lawmakers in late 2025.

Addressing the legal and business community, Oyedele assured stakeholders that the Federal Government is already drafting a new Finance Bill specifically designed to purge these technical errors and clarify ambiguous provisions. He emphasized that the underlying intent of the reforms remains focused on transparency and fairness, particularly by protecting low-income earners and small businesses. “What we need is a more transparent and reliable legislative process where every version of a law is publicly available,” Oyedele stated, adding that the enforcement of these reforms would be guided by the policy’s rationale rather than purely discretionary interpretations of flawed text.

The Minister also highlighted that the current reforms seek to rectify long-standing disparities in Nigeria’s fiscal regime, such as the uneven burden between personal and corporate taxation that has historically discouraged business formalization. Reflecting on past economic instability, he warned that abrupt policy changes have often “sent the wrong signal” to international investors and hindered growth. By centralizing and simplifying the tax code, the government aims to move toward a more consistent environment where policies do not “change overnight.” Oyedele concluded by noting that while the corrections are being finalized, the 2026 tax framework already provides critical relief, such as the elimination of minimum tax on loss-making entities and exemptions for millions of small enterprises.

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