The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, on Thursday said Nigeria’s revenue challenge lies in expanding the tax net rather than increasing tax rates, stressing that the country needs more taxpayers, not higher taxes.
Oyedele spoke in Abuja while receiving the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria during a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Finance at the end of the Institute’s maiden National Tax Awareness Day, which featured a road walk and taxpayer sensitisation at Wuse Market as well as a visit to the headquarters of the Nigerian Revenue Service.
The awareness campaign coincided with one year since President Bola Tinubu signed Nigeria’s landmark Tax Reform Acts into law on June 26, 2025.
Commending the Institute for supporting the Federal Government’s tax reform agenda, Oyedele said public misunderstanding of taxation remained one of the biggest obstacles to improving compliance. According to him, many Nigerians still believe that whenever the government talks about taxation, it is simply seeking to collect more money from citizens.
“We are still not getting enough revenue from taxes; it is not about increasing taxes, but making sure that those who are supposed to pay taxes pay.
We want to promote fairness in tax administration,” he said.
The minister added that getting Nigeria’s tax system right would have a transformative impact on national development. He also urged the Institute to establish annual awards to recognise the country’s most compliant taxpayers as a way of encouraging voluntary tax compliance.
