NEWS
Almost Half of Nigeria’s Revenue Goes to Debt Servicing – Oyedele
Nigeria now spends less than 50 percent of her revenue on debt servicing, down from 90 percent where it was two years ago.
The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee (FPTRC), Taiwo Oyedele, made the disclosure in Lagos on Monday, while presenting his keynote at PwC’s Executive Summit on Nigeria’s Tax Reform.
It held under the theme “The New Tax Era: What Nigeria’s Tax Reform Means to Individuals and Businesses”, and Oyedele highighted that the government was spending almost 97 percent of its revenue on debt servicing before the economic reforms.
“We’ve cleared unmet forex futures that were more than $7bn. And we moved from under $4 bn external reserve to over $20bn today. Budget deficit is declining, and we’re spending more on infrastructure.
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“Tax to GDP ratio moved from under 10 percent is now 13.5 percent in two years. Instead of 97 percent, service debt is now under 50 percent in two years. We no longer print money to spend. Rather, we’ve paid down part of the ways and means that the previous administration printed,” he stated.
He explained that the country’s currency could have become worthless if the Federal Government had not embarked on the current economic reforms.
According to him, Nigeria was heading in the direction of Zimbabwe and Venezuela, whose economies had collapsed.
“Nigeria today, without reforms, would have looked like that. Bigger deficits, more naira printed. We will have easily over $10bn unmet forwards. Tax to GDP ratio will be less than 10 percent. We’ll be spending over 100 percent of our revenue to service debts. You hold money; you will not find PMS to buy. There’ll be more poverty, and there will be more ways and means.
“I thought to bring the currency. I’ll show you. So, this currency, this banknote in my hand, is 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars. I’m not 100 trillion one notes. This note, at the time I got it, was barely enough to buy a loaf of bread. I gave my friend, whom I got this from, $10 and he is still grateful till tomorrow. This is what would have happened to Nigeria. Nigeria was the road to Venezuela and Zimbabwe.”
According to the FPTRC chair, the country could have reached a $1bn economy by now if the government had begun the ongoing economic reforms a decade ago.
“If some of these reforms that were done in the past two years had been done 10 years ago. I tell you authoritatively today, Nigeria will be a $1bn economy guaranteed. And the price of PMS will be under N300/litre because the exchange rate will be under N300 to the USD.
“We’ve done this analysis over the past 10 years. Comparable balance of payment between Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Yet naira has lost six and a half times more value than Kenya shillings and South African rand. If only we had maintained the same level of stability as those two other countries. Nigeria will be a $1tn economy. What that means is the size of the middle class will probably be 10 times what it is. Every single investor in the world will take a seriously enough about,” Oyedele asserted.
He argued that the government was wasting trillions of naira subsidising petrol, spending a large chunk of its revenue to service debt and was just printing naira at will.
“We committed them to subsidise PMS. It still wasn’t enough. NNPC took the taxes they were supposed to pay and they used that as well. It was not enough. They started taking the taxes of the other operators in the industry to also pay for the PMS. It still wasn’t enough. If we had continued till this day, the subsidy regime would have collapsed.
“Naturally, you would hold N100,000; you will not find a litre of PMS to buy. And I said that with all sense of responsibility. Responsibility because we’re running out of fiscal space to deal with the subsidy.
“Many people like you, including myself, knew there was a lot of corruption in it. That’s true. Could we have removed the corruption in the time frame? No. We had a huge budget deficit. We printed over N30tn to spend. We’re not building roads. It wasn’t that we’re building electricity. We were paying salaries,” he emphasised.
“Many people like you, including myself, knew there was a lot of corruption in it. That’s true. Could we have removed the corruption in the time frame? No. We had a huge budget deficit. We printed over N30tn to spend. We’re not building roads. It wasn’t that we’re building electricity. We were paying salaries,” he emphasised.
Oyedele disclosed that only three per cent of informal sector operators could pay taxes in Nigeria.
He explained, “From our analysis, it is only the top three per cent of the informal sector that has the ability to pay. Therefore, in these reforms, we have legally exempted the bottom 97 per cent from paying taxes. Let them breathe. When they grow, they will have the capacity to pay. And many people would ask me, ‘Are you sure that all the companies in Nigeria will not become small?’.
“This will happen anywhere in the world if you create an exemption threshold. People want to force themselves to be under the threshold. Isn’t it because they don’t want to pay tax? It’s hard to pay tax anywhere in the world. Nigerians are not bad people. They’re not worse than people who live in other countries where things work. The difference is the system. So, the system we are building is that if you like to go and lie and say your business is small when it is not, we will find out, and there shall be consequences for those who underdeclare and engage in tax evasion.”
According to the FPTRC chair, the country’s tax is now progressive, and all the major taxes have become progressive.
Oyedele also disclosed that the gazette of the recently signed tax law was being printed in Lagos, and the final copy of the tax would be released to the public afterwards.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu signed four bills into law on June 26, but they would become effective on January 1, 2026.
Also, the Regional Senior Partner, PwC West Market Area, Sam Abu, noted that the reforms embarked on by the government were a good starting point for engaging in that conversation very robustly.
“Policy alone won’t deliver. Real change requires partnership and commitment. It required every single one of us here, the government, business leaders, and private sector individuals, to collaborate and work together to shape what will come up, to shape the kind of society and the kind of business community that we want to operate together, that we want to believe is okay. It requires us to engage with the spirit of these reforms, with sincerity, with integrity and with optimism,” he emphasised.
He said perspectives of stakeholders were critical in ensuring that those reforms take root and deliver on the outcomes that had been promised.
“Everybody has had a part to play in this regard. So, a PWC objective is clear. We want to remove complexity from tax. We want to help our clients anticipate risk and deliver solutions that are practical and tailored to their businesses, so that you, as business leaders, can focus on what you do best, which is making an impact on growing your businesses,” Abu added.
Major highlights of the new tax law are the exemption of employees who earn less than N800,000 annually from the personal income tax, the harmonisation of federal taxes and making the Federal Inland Revenue Service the sole collector of federal taxes.
Meanwhile, Partner and Tax and Regulatory Service Leader, Chijioke Uwaegbute, added that with the new tax law, by January 1, 2026, an entity that is resident abroad will be fully taxed in Nigeria if it is being controlled from the country.
“Control meaning where the board sits and things like that, or it is being effectively managed in Nigeria, being where the people who make the decisions sit. That is potentially a big one.
“Similarly, we have rules around indirect transfers as well. I have a situation where you dispose of or there’s a disposal of the shares of a foreign entity that owns a Nigerian company. And if that disposal means that there’s a change in the ownership of the Nigerian company, that disposal then is seen as a taxable event in Nigeria, not minding the fact that the shares that were disposed of are not of the Nigerian company.
“So all of these rules that we see here are really to reflect some of the advances we’ve seen in other countries, minimise opportunities for avoidance and ensure that Nigeria is able to tax its fair share of taxes,” he said while highlighting major changes in the new tax law.
The United States has said it will closely monitor Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with US Congressman Riley Moore stating that President Donald Trump’s administration will be paying “very close attention” to how the country’s next polls are conducted.
Moore, a Republican representing West Virginia, made the remarks during an interview with NoireTV while responding to questions about Nigeria’s upcoming general elections.
According to him, Washington is committed to observing both the outcome and the conduct of the elections to ensure they are credible and transparent.
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“We’re certainly going to be watching these results and how these elections unfold and how they’re executed. And that’s something that myself and the administration are going to be paying very close attention to,” Moore said.
The congressman also disclosed that the US House of Representatives is considering an appropriations bill containing provisions relating to Nigeria, particularly on religious freedom and US security assistance.
“We’re working on Chris (Smith)’s bill, which obviously I’m a co-sponsor of that bill. But I’d say, more importantly, what people need to pay attention to is the appropriations bill that we’re going to have on the floor today,” he stated.
Moore explained that the proposed legislation contains what he described as “pretty strong and aggressive language” regarding Nigeria’s relationship with the United States.
“There’s a lot of language that I put on that bill that relates to Nigeria, the persecution of Christians and restrictions on security assistance to the government of Nigeria, and steps that they have to take,” he said.
He added that the bill is expected to become law and would have a binding impact on future US-Nigeria relations.
“That bill’s likely to become law. We’re about to, hopefully, pass that here today. And so there’s some pretty strong and aggressive language in that bill that’s going to be binding as it relates to our relationship to Nigeria moving forward,” Moore added.
The lawmaker further revealed that he would continue engaging President Donald Trump’s administration on issues concerning Nigeria, disclosing that he was scheduled to meet the US president during a dinner engagement.
“I continue to work with the administration on next steps that we’re going to take. I’m actually going to see President Trump tonight. I’ll be having dinner with him and some other members, so yeah, I continue to talk to him about these issues, and it’s very important to him,” he said.
Moore is a co-sponsor of the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026, introduced alongside Congressman Chris Smith in February.
The proposed legislation seeks to require the US Secretary of State to submit periodic reports to Congress on efforts to address religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria.
The bill also proposes regular assessments of Nigeria’s compliance with international religious freedom obligations, US security assistance, sanctions, humanitarian support, and measures taken by the Nigerian government to protect vulnerable communities and prosecute those responsible for attacks.
Earlier in April 2026, the US House Appropriations Committee approved provisions in its annual State Department funding bill imposing stricter oversight and conditions on financial assistance to Nigeria.
The proposal recommends withholding 50 percent of US foreign assistance allocated to Nigeria until it is certified that the Nigerian government is taking effective steps to curb religious violence.
It also requires that the funds support investigations and prosecutions of violence committed by Fulani militia groups and that the government facilitates the safe return of displaced persons.
If passed into law, the legislation is expected to shape future diplomatic relations, security cooperation and financial assistance between the United States and Nigeria.
Former Anambra State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has expressed concern over a recent United Nations warning of a worsening food crisis in Northern Nigeria, urging the Federal Government and state governments to take immediate steps to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
Obi made the call on Saturday in a post shared on his X account, describing the development as disturbing, especially because Northern Nigeria has traditionally been regarded as the country’s food-producing region.
The former governor stressed the need for more effective policy implementation to address the growing humanitarian challenge, urging governments at all levels to make proactive investments in securing agricultural corridors and supporting smallholder farmers with accessible resources to improve food production.
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He also called on authorities to work closely with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other development partners to bridge existing funding gaps before the crisis worsens.
According to Obi, the WFP’s latest assessment revealed that more than 17 million people across nine northern states are currently facing crisis-level hunger, while over 35 million Nigerians could be at risk during the ongoing lean season.
He further cited reports indicating that more than 10,000 residents of Borno State have entered what humanitarian agencies describe as “catastrophic hunger conditions.”
“Insecurity, including banditry and insurgency, has prevented many farmers from accessing their farmlands and remains a major obstacle to agricultural production,” Obi said.
The former presidential candidate called for improved security across farming communities and increased investment in rural infrastructure and agricultural productivity to restore food production.
He also urged policymakers to prioritise production-driven economic policies aimed at expanding cultivated land and boosting agro-industrial output.
According to Obi, Nigeria has the resources and agricultural potential to significantly reduce hunger and poverty if the appropriate measures are implemented.
He maintained that a Nigeria free from widespread hunger and mass poverty remains achievable if leaders place the welfare and livelihoods of citizens at the centre of national decision-making.
The statement follows a recent United Nations warning that worsening hunger in Northern Nigeria is being fuelled by insecurity, which continues to prevent farmers from accessing their farmlands and has created conditions that armed groups exploit to recruit vulnerable people.
NEWS
Tinubu’s Adviser Masari Bags International Leadership Award, Receives US Congressional Commendation
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Political and Other Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, has received international recognition for his contributions to public service, leadership and good governance after emerging as one of the recipients at the 16th African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA) held in London, United Kingdom.
Masari was honoured for his exemplary leadership, distinguished public service and sustained contributions to governance and sustainable development during the prestigious event organised by the African Leadership Organisation under the auspices of the African Leadership Magazine.
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The annual summit attracted African presidents, governors, ministers, policymakers, business executives, development partners and academics to celebrate outstanding leadership while promoting dialogue on Africa’s economic transformation, innovation, investment and sustainable development.
In addition to the ABLA honour, Masari also received a Special Congressional Commendation from the South Carolina House of Representatives in the United States in recognition of his contributions to public service and leadership.
Organisers said the dual honours reflect growing international recognition of Masari’s commitment to good governance, accountability and nation-building.
As Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Political and Other Matters, Masari has been instrumental in providing strategic political counsel, fostering dialogue among stakeholders and supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening national cohesion and Nigeria’s democratic process.
Reacting to the recognition, Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat, PhD, described the awards as a fitting tribute to Masari’s years of dedicated service, integrity and commitment to national development.
Ramat said Masari’s leadership style, characterised by humility, accessibility and commitment to public service, has earned him widespread respect across political, ethnic and social divides.
According to him, the presidential adviser has remained steadfast in supporting President Tinubu’s administration through strategic engagement, loyalty and dedication to advancing the government’s policies and programmes.
He also commended Masari for his humanitarian interventions, support for education, youth mentorship and community development, noting that his philanthropic efforts have positively impacted many lives across Nigeria.
“His recognition is not just an award but a validation of a lifetime devoted to integrity, patriotism, compassion and selfless service to humanity,” Ramat said.
Other prominent African leaders honoured at the ceremony included Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone Henry Falla Saamoi, and President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Dr. George Agyekum Donkor.
The event was attended by several notable personalities, including former Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Prof. Shehu Aliyu, alongside other African leaders and development experts.
Congratulating Masari on the honours, Ramat expressed confidence that the international recognition would further inspire him to continue serving Nigeria with dedication while promoting unity, peace and national development.
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Tinubu’s Adviser Masari Bags International Leadership Award, Receives US Congressional Commendation
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