Investors have applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of four comprehensive tax-reform bills, which are expected to streamline revenue administration and improve Nigeria’s business landscape. Yet the President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Ohagwa Innocent, warns that the greatest risk lies not in the substance of the reforms but in the speed of their implementation.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, June 30, 2025, Innocent cautioned against rushing multiple measures into force simultaneously:
“The challenge I will envisage is that if we are to implement all of them at the same time, that is immediately, it will be challenging.”
Citing the planned introduction of e‑invoicing, he recommended a phased approach that begins with larger taxpayers in major urban centres:
“For example, we’re talking about fiscalisation. If you are fiscalising e‑invoices, it’s better you start from large tax payers from places like Lagos, Abuja, the urban cities. You cannot just want to implement it from the 36 states and Federal Capital at a time.”
Innocent welcomed the federal government’s decision to defer full implementation until January, noting that the delay allows for planning, system upgrades, pilot programmes, and capacity building:
“If you use the approach like the government has done rightly, by shifting the implementation deadline to January, that gives us enough time to plan, update our systems and processes, build capacity, and then lessons learned from some of the pilot runs, and then monitoring mechanisms.”
He emphasised that success ultimately hinges on steadfast state support:
“Political will is also very key. No matter how best a document or legislation could be, if you do not ensure it is implemented, monitored, and then get rewards for those who do essentially well, and then punish those who are frustrating it, you may not really get all the results, because this is supposed to pass across all tiers, federal, state, and then local government. So we need to ensure that there is political will.”
At the sub‑national level, Innocent urged authorities to ensure local governments receive their full share of revenue:
“And again, handling issues at the subnational and local government level, yes, some of the provisions there, we need to ensure that all what is due to local governments are given to them like the Supreme court has ruled.”
Despite reservations about the timetable, he praised the reform package for its breadth and inclusivity:
“I can say that this reform is one of the best. We have never seen a tax reform that focused on all the stakeholders, and the exemptions, the reliefs, the benefits are many, more than the aspects that anyone could complain about. The more you read the act, the more it gets interesting.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria are very excited about it, and we look forward to it. The journey of miles starts with a step.”
