The Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied claims that he admitted to errors in Nigeria’s newly introduced tax laws, despite the circulation of a video in which he referenced “problems” identified during the legislative process.
In a statement issued on April 10, the fiscal reforms committee said the minister had acknowledged that discrepancies arose from manual processes and multiple stages of review during the law-making cycle. It added that steps were being taken to address the issues through a proposed finance bill.
However, in a follow-up statement shared via his official X account on Sunday, the committee dismissed reports suggesting that the minister “finally admitted errors” as misleading.
The statement clarified that the reports misrepresented his remarks and falsely suggested that he had urged Nigerians to await the outcome of a legislative probe.
“These publications misrepresent the Minister’s statements, falsely alleging that he urged Nigerians to await the outcome of a legislative probe, a process that has long been concluded and the gazetted copies certified by the National Assembly published since early January 2026,” the statement read.
It added that such narratives could distort public understanding and undermine the intended benefits of the tax reforms.
According to the committee, the minister made the remarks during a fireside chat at the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice conference in Lagos, where he outlined early gains from the reforms, including a surge in business registrations and an expansion of the tax net.
Oyedele was quoted as saying that the number of individuals registered for tax purposes had risen from fewer than 10 million prior to the reforms to over 100 million, while more informal businesses were now registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
He also noted that no legislation is flawless, stressing that ongoing stakeholder engagement would help identify gaps for necessary amendments through subsequent finance bills.
“Ongoing stakeholder engagement is essential to identify and address any errors or gaps for appropriate legislative updates through Finance Bills as part of a continuous improvement process,” the statement added.
However, in the widely circulated video, the minister acknowledged shortcomings in the legislative drafting process, describing it as vulnerable to inconsistencies due to repeated manual edits.
He disclosed that he reviewed multiple versions of the legislation and observed discrepancies, including a reduction in the small business threshold from N100 million to N50 million in an earlier gazetted draft.
“When this allegation of alteration was made, it didn’t come to me as a surprise because my surprise happened before then. My surprise is, being very much involved with the lawmaking process, I wasn’t impressed,” he said.
He further criticised the process, noting that the numerous stages of drafting, review, and harmonisation across the National Assembly, executive, and relevant agencies created room for errors.
Describing the experience as challenging, Oyedele said his team resisted several inconsistencies, resulting in revisions to the document.
“At that point, about 90 per cent of the problems we identified had been corrected but not all of it… if you want to wait to have this thing perfected, we will not have the transition period,” he added.
Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, had earlier alleged that the gazetted version of the tax laws differed from what was passed by the National Assembly, further fuelling the controversy.
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