Opinion: How Zacch Adedeji’s Tax Policy is Impoverishing Nigerians
By Sunday Oladapo
By any measure, Nigerians are living through one of the harshest economic crises in decades. Inflation is in double digits, food prices are unbearable, and purchasing power has collapsed. In such a climate, one would expect fiscal policy to provide relief, stimulate growth, and shield the poor. Instead, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), under Zacch Adedeji, has pursued tax policies that seem designed more to squeeze struggling households than to expand opportunity.
Adedeji’s mantra of “expanding the tax net” has, in practice, translated into piling new burdens on a citizenry already stretched to breaking point. From controversial levies on everyday transactions to the poorly communicated roll-out of new compliance frameworks, ordinary Nigerians find themselves constantly navigating fresh hurdles just to survive.
The justification often given is that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is too low compared to other economies. But this comparison is misleading. Many of those countries provide citizens with reliable social services—quality healthcare, efficient public transportation, subsidised education. In Nigeria, taxpayers see little return on their contributions. Electricity is erratic, roads are collapsing, and public schools and hospitals are underfunded. To impose heavier taxes without fixing governance failures is simply punitive.
The recent controversy over Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) for bank account holders illustrates the problem. Instead of clarity and reassurance, Nigerians were left anxious that yet another bureaucratic barrier might lock them out of the financial system. Even when corrected, the incident revealed how tone-deaf FIRS has become in its messaging—more focused on compliance than compassion.
In effect, Adedeji’s policies deepen inequality. Big corporations and politically connected elites find ways to exploit loopholes, while small traders, salaried workers, and ordinary families bear the full brunt of enforcement. This regressive approach widens the gap between rich and poor, undermines trust in government, and fuels public resentment.
Nigeria does need tax reform, but not in this form. What is needed is a fairer system—one that targets luxury consumption, curbs corporate tax evasion, and ensures wealthy individuals cannot hide behind shell companies. Revenue must be matched by visible improvements in social services, otherwise taxation becomes legalized extortion.
If Adedeji continues on the present path, his tenure will be remembered not for modernising the tax system, but for impoverishing the very citizens he claims to serve. A humane tax policy should lighten the load, not add to it. Until that shift happens, Nigerians will continue to see FIRS not as a partner in progress, but as a predator in disguise.
