Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has said Nigeria’s financial resources are insufficient to transform an economy of over 200 million people.
Speaking at a one-day capacity-building workshop on the Nigeria Tax Act (2025) for members of the State House Press Corps in Abuja, Oyedele stressed that savings from fuel subsidy removal alone cannot provide the scale of infrastructure and social services required for national transformation.
“Even if corruption and waste are completely eliminated, the funds available to us remain inadequate to transform Nigeria. Subsidy savings alone cannot deliver the kind of infrastructure and services needed. Our fiscal space is simply too limited,” he said.
He noted that the combined annual budgets of the federal, state, and local governments, including the Federal Capital Territory—less than $50 billion—are grossly inadequate to meet the country’s developmental needs.
Oyedele, who faulted past decisions such as the demolition of toll gates and the reversal of refinery privatisation, described them as costly mistakes that weakened the economy.
He clarified that the tax reforms introduced under the Tinubu administration, scheduled to take effect from January 2026, do not impose new taxes but are aimed at improving efficiency and compliance.
