Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and the Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), Olusegun Adesokan have hinted that the era of multiple and overlapping taxation will soon become a thing of the past following the introduction of the new tax reforms.
The Governor and the Executive Secretary spoke separately during the 160th meeting of the Joint Revenue Board meeting held in Kaduna on Wednesday, with the theme, ‘’One Year Of Tax Reform: Assessing Progress and Addressing Challenges.’’
|
|
18 States Domesticate Harmonised Taxes and Levies Law
Giving an overview of the progress made one year into the implementation of the tax reform, the JRB Executive Secretary hinted that 18 State Houses of Assembly have domesticated the model harmonised taxes and levies law as the nation’s apex tax authorities move to curb the menace of tax overlapping and duplication across Nigeria.
Mr Adesokan said the new legislation has reduced the over 50 collection items hitherto administered by States and Local Government Areas to nine sub-heads.
|
|
|
|---|
The model law further abolishes cash collection and mounting of roadblocks for collection of revenue. The JRB Executive Sectetary said the measure has recorded a significant success in the harmonisation of taxes and levies by the subnational.
Reduction of Tax Burden on Low-income Earners
Addressing the misconception that the tax reform has increased taxes, Mr Adesokan said the reform has rather reduced tax burden on low-income earners and eliminated multiple nuisance taxes while providing reliefs for low income-earners and micro-scale businesses.
The Executive Secretary appreciated Governor, Uba Sani for hosting the 160th JRB meeting and for his consistent support of the tax reform initiative. He particularly commended the governor for nominating a member of the Board and outgoing Executive Chairman of Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Jerry Adams as his running mate for the 2027 gubernatorial election.
Tax Reforms Have Increased Internally Generated Revenue – Uba Sani
In his own remarks while declaring the meeting open, Governor Sani expressed his delight with the tax stressing that apart from eliminating duplication of taxation, it has enhanced revenue generation. He observed that the national tax revenue has so far risen to N21.6 trillion since President Bola Tinubu introduced tax reform in 2026.
According to him, the nation’s revenue was approximately ₦10.1 trillion in 2023, ₦21.6 trillion in 2024 and about ₦36.8 trillion in 2025.
‘’In the first half of 2026 alone, revenue reached approximately ₦21.6 trillion, representing a 49 percent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year,’’ he pointed out.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for taking what he described as ‘’the bold and politically demanding decision to fundamentally reform Nigeria’s tax architecture through landmark legislation, including the Act that transformed the former Joint Tax Board into the Joint Revenue Board.’’
‘’That decision reflected a profound understanding: that a modern economy cannot be sustained by an outdated, fragmented or overly complex revenue system.
‘’Nigeria requires a tax architecture that is coherent, predictable, efficient and capable of supporting national development without unnecessarily constraining enterprise and investment,’’ he argued.
Kaduna Governor Lauds JRB Chairman, Zacch Adedeji
The Governor paid tribute to the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board who is also the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Dr Zach Adedeji, “for his exceptional leadership and statesmanship in advancing Nigeria’s tax reform agenda.”
Uba Sani said that Dr Adedeji’s “contribution has been distinguished not merely by technical competence, but by a clear appreciation of the larger purpose of tax reform: to strengthen revenue mobilisation while making the system simpler, fairer, more predictable and more responsive to taxpayers.
‘’Reforms of this magnitude inevitably require courage. They demand the patience to build consensus, the discipline to stay the course and the institutional imagination to turn legislation into effective administrative practice. Mr Adedeji has demonstrated these qualities with distinction,’’ he added.
Mr Uba Sani also commended the immediate past Executive Chairman of Kaduna Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Mr Jerry Adams and his team, for increasing the state’s internally generated revenue from barely N4 billion, to N10 billion monthly.
He argued that the revenue figures are more than fiscal statistics, stressing that they point to ‘’an emerging capacity to finance national development increasingly from domestic resources.’’
According to him, the tax reforms aim at ‘’simplifying a complex tax environment, reducing multiple and overlapping taxation, deploying technology and e-invoicing to minimise leakages.
He further noted that the new tax reforms seek to consolidate revenue administration ‘’and, perhaps most importantly, rebuilding the relationship between government and the taxpayer.’’
The Governor stated that sustainable taxation cannot rest on coercion alone but must be founded on fairness, transparency, predictability and trust.
‘’Citizens and businesses are more likely to comply when they understand their obligations, encounter a system that is straightforward to navigate, and have confidence that the resources they contribute are being responsibly applied to the public good.
‘’The objective, therefore, should not simply be to collect more revenue. It should be to build a tax system in which compliance becomes easier, enforcement becomes more intelligent and voluntary participation becomes the norm rather than the exception,’’ he said.
JRB Chairman, Zacch Adedeji Urges Stock Taking, Confronting of Challenges
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman, Joint Revenue Board, Dr Zacch Adedeji, who was represented by Muhammad L Abubakar, Executive Director Finance and Corporate Services, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), said the theme of the 160th meeting is a call on the Board to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the reform, remediate identified gaps and confront the challenges that may emerge.
He further stated that “while encouraging progress has been recorded in institutional reform, digitalisation, data integration, harmonisation and collaboration, the ultimate measure of success of the reform must be improved revenue mobilisation, greater compliance, a better taxpayer experience and stronger contribution to national development.”
Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
