By Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo milr fcia fimpa JP
The traumatic experience Nigerians are undergoing presently in the country would have been better imagined, hence , since May 29th 2023 to date the excruating atmosphere Nigerians have been undergoing is a clear case of enslavement , subjugation and life of penury because of various unfriendly economic policies of Federal Government.
It is an open secret that since the present President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in on the 29th May 2023 and the immediate pronouncement of “Fuel subsidy is gone” by His Excellency, since then ” the central can not hold…the falcon can no more hear the falconer” in the area of harsh economic weather working against the Nigerian masses
The prediction by economic pundits that the sole agenda of the present administration will be to impoverish Nigerians through behind the scene Policy somersault approaches and applications; such as introduction of various taxes, which are crowded with uncertainty and without human feelings.
As a matter of fact, Fuel subsidy removal from the first day of his administration was the albatross that triggered many misfortunes and unfortunate things, top of it all is the astronomical increases in prices of all goods without any improvement in the purchasing power of Nigerians.
Although, there is more money to the federation account which has given all the tiers of government the opportunity to get more money, especially state governments that now receive triple allocations to their States ( as confirmed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself) with what States are getting now , there is nothing to show for it by some of the State Governors in Nigeria, the masses and vulnerable Nigerians are now at the receiving end- this is pathetic.
Ever since the present democracy started in Nigeria in 1999 Nigerians had thought that there would be improvement in their quality of lives but the worst scenario is what Nigerians are facing presently.
Within a space of less than two years in the life of the present government, various economic policies were seen as purposely been implemented not only to punish the vulnerable Nigerians but also to snuff life out of the hapless masses of this country.
From day one of the lifetime of the present administration Nigerians witnessed fuel subsidy removal while subsequent policies, such as; Tax reforms, a subtle way to outrightly change the various tax laws, tariff increases in electricity, Telecommunications, devaluation of Naira, high increases in prices of automobile, consumables and daily essentials need among others.
Flowing from the above, let us ex-ray the various policies in the perspective of evaluation and suggestions :
*Tax Reforms Policy*
On October 3rd 2024,
President Bola Tinubu transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly. The bills christened as the:
*Nigeria Tax Bill 2024,*
*The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill* ,
*The Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill,*
*The Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.*
All together, these bills were aimed to overhaul tax administration and revenue generation in Nigeria, as many of the provisions contained in them are landmark in nature but packaged in a surreptitious way to brainwash Nigerians.
These tax reform bills did not come out from nowhere; they are products of one year of rigorous work and consultation by Taiwo Oyedele who superintended the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu in August 2023, It was very clear that President Tinubu saw tax reforms as one of the primary things his administration needed to achieve to lay a strong fiscal and revenue foundation for sustainable growth for the country, no doubt about that.
The highlight of the Nigeria Tax Bills are provided below:
“The Nigeria Tax Bill (from now on referred to as the NTB) is a comprehensive piece of legislation that seeks to outline all taxes in the country hitherto administered by different laws and compress them into a single simplified law.
Most importantly, the Nigeria Tax Bills (NTB) vests upon the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS)(expected to succeed FIRS) powers to collect all national taxes, including royalties hitherto collected by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and excise duties, import VAT etc, hitherto collected by the Nigeria Customs Service.
On the above, Federal Government must be conscious enough to know that there will be overlapping role in this circumstance which will lead to economic sabotage because agencies responsible for revenue generation in their statutory callings may feel threatened due to interference and interdependence of functions with the advent of Nigeria Tax Bills.
*Will Nigeria Custom Service be more aggressive and productive in revenue generation and meeting up its revenue target?*
The coming into force of the Nigeria tax bill will lead to the repeal of 11 laws/enactments, while 13 other laws shall experience consequential amendments. The NTB will also revoke one subsidiary legislation and consequential amendments on two other subsidiary legislations. The laws that would be revoked once the NTB comes into effect (as currently being proposed) include:
1. Capital Gains Tax Act
2. Casino Act
3. Companies Income Tax Act
4. Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Act
5. Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act
6. Income Tax (Authorised Communications) Act
7. Personal Income Tax Act
8. Petroleum Profits Tax Act
9. Stamp Duties Act
10. Value Added Tax Act and
11. Venture Capital (Incentives) Act.
The existing legislation that will witness consequential amendments include:
1. The Petroleum Industry Act, No 6. 2021 (the areas to be deleted in the PIA include parts I – X of chapter four; the Fifth and Sixth Schedule; paragraphs 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Seventh Schedule; and subparagraph 6 of paragraph 14 of the Seventh Schedule.
2. The Nigerian Export Processing Zones Act (sections 8 and 18(1)(a) deleted).
3. The Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Act (sections 8 and 18(1)(a) deleted).
4. The National Information Technology Development Agency Act (sections 1, 2, and 3(3) deleted).
5. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment, Etc.) Act (sections 1, 2, and 3(3) deleted).
6. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (Establishment) Act (section 20(2), paragraph b(i) and b(ii) deleted).
7. The Customs, Excise Tariffs, Etc. (Consolidation) Act (section 21(2) deleted).
8. The National Lottery Act (sections 35A, 35B and 35C deleted).
9. The Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (sections 28 and 33 deleted).
10. The Nigeria Start-up Act (sections 25(2), (3), (4) and 29(3) deleted).
11. The Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (section 11(1) deleted).
12. The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (Establishment, Etc.) Act (section 14(1)(h) deleted).
13. The Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act (subsections (2)(a) and (4) of section 44 and the Second Schedule are deleted).
For the subsidiary legislations, the Value Added Tax Act (Modification) Order 2021 will be revoked, while the Company Income Tax (Significant Economic Presence) Order 2020 will be amended by deleting paragraph 2 even though the parent legislation, the Company Income Tax, would be repealed.
Also, the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Regulations 1969 would be amended by deleting regulations 60B, 60C, 61(1), (2), (4) and 62.
Crucially, the Nigeria Tax Bill included a supremacy clause in section 202, part of which stated that” this Act shall take precedence over any other law with regards to the imposition of tax, royalty, levy, excise duty on services or any other tax, where the provisions of any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall prevail and the provisions of that other law shall, to the extent
of the inconsistency, be null and void.”
The above clause will effectively elevates the NTB to be Nigeria’s supreme legislation on taxes.
Significance of the Nigeria Tax Bill for Individuals and Businesses
Apart from trying to simplify tax laws in Nigeria, the Nigeria tax bill , no doubt will also reduce the tax burden in most cases for individual taxpayers and businesses.
*In order not to brainwash Nigerians , the bills are all about surreptitious ways to increase tax payment in Nigeria.*
The claim that it will :
1. Reduce in Personal Income Tax: With the new provisions in the NTB, personal income tax would see a progressive reduction in rates, with lower-income earners being exempt from paying PIT or paying reduced rates compared to the current rates. The annual tax rate, as outlined in the fourth schedule of the bill, is as follows:
*a. First N800k – 0% whereas there is no Public Servants in Nigeria that did not earn more than (N800,000) eight hundred thousand naira only annually, with the current minimum wage Act 2024 , which means that no Public servants will be exempted from tax payment*
*Presently, the annual Minimum Wage in line with Consequential Adjustments on the Minimum Wage Act 2024 to Public Servants; the Consolidated Federal Public Service Salary Structure today is N930,000, where is the Tax relief/exemption to workers ?*
All other analysis below are mere hypothetical postulations in order to confuse Nigerians
b. Next N2.2m – 15%
c. Next N9m – 18%
d. Next N13m – 21%
e. Next N25m – 23% and
f. Above N50m – 25%
Before now, the personal income tax rates for different bands of annual income are as follows:
a. First N300k – 7%
b. Next N300k – 11%
c. Next N500k – 15%
d. Next N500k – 19%
e. Next N1.6m – 21%
f. Above N3.2m 24%
So, a glance at the two sets of rates shows that while currently a low-income earner who earns N25,000 monthly, which translates to N300,000 annually, is required to pay 7% income tax, the new rates proposed in the Nigeria Tax Bill exempts individuals who earn N800,000 or less annually from paying any income tax. Considering that more than 70% of Nigerians today do not earn up to N800,000 annually, you realise that the bill is pro-poor who are self employed or employed as casual workers.
So, in effect, not every minimum wage earner in Nigeria would be exempted from personal income tax.
Also, the bill in section 13(2a) exempts all employees of start-ups and technology-driven service providers from income tax. This is a massive incentive for youths in ICT! , this is understandable
The progressive personal income tax rate in the NTB means that before you pay the top income tax rate of 25%, your annual income must be above N50m. In other words, this new income tax regime seeks to ensure that richer people pay their fair share of tax. Before now, it was the low-income earners who were employees who got to pay income tax through deductions from sources carried out by their employers.
However, with the new provisions in Section 28 of the second bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, financial institutions are now mandated to furnish tax authorities with details of individuals whose monthly cumulative transactions amount to N25 million or more.
This would bring more high-income earners into the tax net.
2. Reduction in Company Profit Tax and Harmonisation of Four Special Deductions into One Levy: The Nigeria Tax Bill is business friendly as it exempted every small business whose annual turnover is below N25 million from paying profit tax and progressively reduced the top rate profit tax paid by larger companies from 30% to 25%. According to section 56 of the Nigeria Tax Bill, a small company will be taxed 0 per cent (i.e. zero rated) while other companies (medium to large) will be charged 27.5% in 2025 and 25% from 2026. This is against the present 30% CIT rate for large companies with over N100 million turnover and 20% for medium companies with over N25 million to N100 million turnover.
The Nigeria Tax Bill is friendly to small businesses. As many as 90% of businesses in Nigeria fall under the small business category. This means that around 90% of businesses in Nigeria won’t be paying profit tax under the NTB. The bill equally reduces the tax burden on big businesses and frees more resources for them to expand, which will lead to more job creation.
The bill in section 20(1)(a)-(l) also indirectly reduces the taxable income of the company by increasing the deductions allowed from the company’s gross earnings before ascertaining the company’s profit, which is eventually taxed. The bill also eliminated a minimum income tax of around 1% of gross earnings hitherto imposed on companies that did not declare profit.
The bill went further in section 59 to harmonise all the special deductions on companies’ profit (different from the profit tax) into a single development levy that is expected to progressively decline from a rate of 4% in 2025 and 2026 assessment years to just 2% from 2030! The three direct annual deductions on companies’ profit consolidated into a one-off development levy by the bill include:
a. Tertiary education tax as of today, companies are required by the TETFUND Act to pay 2% of their annual assessable profit as tertiary education tax into TETFUND;
b. NASENI Levy – apart from the deduction of 3% of the total revenue accruing to the Federation Account, the National Agency for Science & Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Act also mandates FIRS to collect 0.25% of the turnover of companies and firms with income or turnover of N4,000,000 (Four Million Naira) and above; and
c. Information Technology Tax companies with an annual turnover of N100 million or more who are engaged in banking and other financial activities; insurance activities; pension fund administration; GSM service providers and telcos, as well as cyber and internet service providers, are required by the NITDA Act to pay 1% of their profit before company income tax (CIT) as information technology tax annually to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Nigeria Fund (NITDF).
Nigerian Education Loan Fund’s (NELF) primary funding source is through the deduction of 1% of all taxes, levies and duties collected by FIRS and not necessarily extra direct deductions from companies’ profits. However, in the Nigeria Tax bill, the NELFUND is the greatest beneficiary of the development levy. According to section 59(2), the development levy to be collected by NRS (i.e. FIRS) at progressively declining rates from 2025 shall be distributed as follows:
a. Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF) will receive 50% of the total development levy in 2025 and 2026 (rate of 4%). In 2027, 2028 and 2029, TETFUND will receive 66% of the total development levy collected (the levy rate declines to 3%). From 2030 and above, TETFUND will cease to receive any share of the development levy.
b. The Student Education Loan Fund will receive 25% of the development levy in 2025 and 2026, 33% in 2027, 2028, and 2029, and 100% from 2030 onwards. This would now be 2% of the assessable profits of all companies (except small companies and non-resident companies).
c. The National Information Technology Development Fund will receive 20% of the development levy in 2025 and 2026 and 0% from 2027 onwards.
d. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) will receive 5% of the development levy in 2025 and 2026 and 0% from 2027 onwards.
So, for most companies, the Nigeria Tax Bill is coming to harmonise their taxes into a maximum of two (income tax and development levy) with a maximum total rate of 27% (25% profit tax and 2% development levy) for the biggest companies from 2030 instead of a top rate of 33.25% they currently pay. This is a relief for businesses. There is no other way to say it.
3. Progressive Value Added Tax: Many, including some governors and other stakeholders, focus on VAT. Chapter Six of the Nigeria Tax Bill contains provisions about value-added tax. The bill, in section 146, indeed provides for a gradual increase in the VAT rate from the current 7.5% to 10% in 2025, 12.5% in 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029, and pegged at 15% from 2030.
_Indeed, in the aspect of Value Added Tax (VAT) Federal Government should come clean and clear, the yearly increase in VAT percentage, as contained in the above paragraph, is shrouded in secrecy and ambiguity, hence, it was met with rejection and controversies by all stakeholders ._
The items exempted from VAT are listed in part IV of chapter 8 of the Nigeria Tax Bill, including food items, medical items, baby products, transportation, electricity, LPG, CNG, petrol products, etc. So, in essence, the progressive VAT rates will not affect the poor or VATable things they normally purchase how are will sure this is a not a mere academic paper at the long run.
The second part of the VAT controversy concerns the derivation formula. However, it is important to point out that the Nigeria Tax Bill does not make any provisions for sharing formulas or derivation; rather, it is another bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill .
Section 77 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill provides for the distribution of VAT in the following manner:
1. 10% to the federal government
2. 55% to the state governments and FCT and
3. 35% to the local governments
The same section provided for the distribution of 60% of the VAT revenue standing to the credit of the states and local governments based on derivation. Section 22(12) of the Bill specifies the proposed derivation model: “For attribution, any return under this section shall provide details of the derivation of taxable supplies by location in a manner prescribed by the service.”
Many opposing the new VAT model did not read this part. They thought the 60% of VAT revenue provided for sharing based on derivation in section 77 would follow the current model, where derivation is attributed to headquarters remittance. That’s not the case. With the new Nigeria Tax Administration Bill proposal, VAT will be attributed to the place of supply and consumption and not necessarily the place of remittance, which currently favours places with many company headquarters.
4. Redesign of the Capital Gains Tax: The bill also progressively redesigned the capital gains tax regime by exempting some forms of capital gains from taxation and, in other cases, raising the gain threshold before imposing a capital gains tax. For example, section 51 of the bill exempts an individual from paying tax on the proceeds of the sale of his residential property or land adjoining his residential property up to a distance of 1 acre. Section.
In section 50, the bill exempts compensation paid to individuals for personal injuries, such as loss of employment, defamation, libel, slander, etc., from capital gains tax once the amount is N50 million or below. Above N50 million, only the excess constitutes chargeable gains. The current provision of the subsisting Capital Gains Tax Act is that compensation for loss of office, etc, is subject to capital gains tax on the portion of the income above N10 million at 10%.
5. Streamlining of Taxation of Income from Mining and Petroleum Operations, including Hydrocarbon Tax: The Nigeria Tax Bill effectively handed over the revenue collection duty of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to the NRS (FIRS) and using the same stone, it amended certain sections of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The Seventh Schedule of the Nigeria Tax Bill prescribed the royalties all production of petroleum (from inland basin, onshore, offshore and deep water) would be subjected to, which are to be collected on behalf of the Federation by the NRS (FIRS) with the royalties so collected by the NRS administered in accordance with provisions of the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill (Act).
Crucially, the Nigeria tax bill outlined provisions that gave tax exemptions to encourage investment in both associated natural gas and non-associated gas (which yields CNG). By virtue of the NTB, NUPRC will squarely face its regulatory role in the upstream petroleum sector and will work closely with NRS where necessary to sanction defaulting companies that fail to remit the assessed taxes and royalties. This will indirectly increase revenue collection efficiency and reduce the cost of collection that NUPRC usually deducts from the royalties it collects before now.
For the mining sector, the Nigeria Tax Bill, in the Eight Schedule, also laid out royalty rates to be paid to companies or licensees mining 71 solid minerals in Nigeria. The rates are either 3% or 5% of the selling value of these minerals. With this and other supporting provisions on mining, the Nigeria Tax Bill would effectively lead to the amendment of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act.
6. Harmonisation of Taxation of Dutiable Instruments/Transactions: Chapter five of the Nigeria Tax Bill made clear provisions for taxation of all dutiable instruments or transactions. Section 123 of the bill imposed stamp duties on a total of 47 instruments at rates specified in the ninth schedule of the tax bill. A look at that ninth schedule shows that 34 instruments were levied duties ad Valorem (as a percentage of the value of these instruments) while 13 other instruments had a fixed duty of either N50 or N500, with only one instrument commanding a fixed stamp duty of N1000. The bill also harmonised instruments and transactions to be exempted from stamp duty and specified them in part III of chapter eight of the bill.
The Nigeria Tax Bill will also bring on board innovations in the provisions on tax incentives contained in Chapter 8 of the bill which provided economic development tax incentives targeted at economic sectors classified in the eleventh schedule as priority sectors. Some provisions removed ambiguities on taxation/tax exemptions within export processing and free trade zones.
*Tax Reforms Bill and Necessity in Public Hearing*
There is no gainsaying that National Assembly organised Public hearing on the Tax Bill, but the manner it was organised favoured the elites without considering wide spectrum of stakeholders.
Taking a very critical study of the Tax Bill , it is an academic exercise designed to achieve a purpose , for the singular benefit of Federal Government which may eventually have a very serious and grievous economic backlash.
*The Public Hearing in the Tax Bill should not be elite driven rather it must be carefully handled, Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the Tax Bills due to its various rough edges.*
*Tariff increases and other unfavourable policies as silent killers of the masses*
The lamentations on the lips of Nigerians is that the suffering is too much considering so many economic problems to contend with as well as tariff increases and subsidy removal on various items.
According to cross section of Nigerians, the rising hike in electricity tariff, telecom charges, cable television subscription rates, among others, have further worsened their plights and livelihood.
In the midst of crumbling economy, organizations, companies, industries and agencies have continued to announce increments in their charges, subscriptions and tariffs. From electricity tariff to telecom charges, to satellite TV subscription, bank charges, commission increments and poor exchange rate, it has been a troubling scenario day in day out for many average citizens.
Many Nigerians lamented that the hikes have affected their cost of living, source of livelihoods and general wellbeing, among other essentials.
The survival of few Nigerians have been attributed to the
“special grace of God” because many households who have been struggling to put food on their tables, to afford the recent increments in electricity tariff, subscription rates for DSTV and GoTV and tariff hike for both voice and data services of MTN, Glo, Airtel and other telecommunications operators are finding it difficult to cope.
“At a time poor Nigerians are yet to recover from the debilitating consequences of the sudden removal of fuel subsidy, which necessitated sharp hikes in prices of foods, transportation fares, house rents, goods and other services, paying hugely for power, telecoms data, bank charges has become latest sources of worry for poor Nigerians.” a respondent lamented
The affected persons, including small business operators, artisans, civil servants said their hopes of survival have continued to deem.
It is unfortunate that Government as an institution has lost total control in the regulation of companies, agencies, industries and organizations that increase prices of their goods and services, because the policy atmosphere of their operations is not conducive hence, ordinary citizens, who could not boast of three square meals are at the receiving end.
Nigerians are being pushed to the wall with worsening inflation of goods and services in the country.
The recent hikes in basic utilities such as electricity and satellite television subscriptions, could precipitate crimes and fraudulent practices among Nigerians who may want to beat the current excruciating hardship.
After several agitations and counter-agitations from telecoms industry groups and the labour union, over the approval granted by the Nigerian Communications Commission on a 50 per cent telecoms tariff hike, the Telecommunications have commenced the implementation process, without prior notice to the subscribers.
Although the benchmark for the new rate differs among the telecom operators, its approval by the NCC has propelled some operators whose tariff templates were ready and approved by the NCC, to commence implementation of the new tariff rate, without consulting the subscribers.
MTN was the first to begin the 50 per cent tariff hike implementation, followed by Airtel, with others following suit.
One gig MTN data that used to sell for N350 by retailers is now N800. For Airtel, one gig data, retailers sell for N600 while Glo one gig data goes for N500.
Even as Nigerians have been lamenting poor electricity supply with many complaining of paying for darkness, the Federal Government has said that for electricity tariffs to reflect the actual cost of production, some Nigerians might need to pay over 65 percent of what they are currently paying for a kilowatt/hour of electricity.
MultiChoice Nigeria recently announced an upward review of subscription prices for its Digital Satellite Television (DStv) and General Entertainment and Occasional Television (GOtv) packages, citing rising operational costs due to economic conditions.
The new rates have taken effect from Saturday, 1 March 2025, according to a statement issued to partners. The company explained the rationale behind the price adjustment, saying, “Due to prevalent economic factors leading to increased operational costs, we have unavoidably had to adjust the prices of our DStv and GOtv subscription packages.
Under the new pricing structure, DStv Premium will now cost N44,500, Compact+ N30,000, Compact N19,000, Confam N11,000, Yanga N6,000, and Padi N4,400. For GOtv, Supa Plus will be N16,800, Supa N11,400, Max N8,500, Jolli N5,800, Jinja N3,900, and Smallie N1,900.
MultiChoice Nigeria, a subsidiary of MultiChoice Group, a leading provider of digital satellite and terrestrial television services across Africa. The company operates DStv and GOtv.
This is not the first time MultiChoice Nigeria has increased subscription fees. In April 2023, the company raised prices by 17%, a move that sparked backlash from customers and regulatory scrutiny.
In 2022, a similar price hike led to a legal battle with the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, which ruled against an immediate increment.
In a move that further depletes the lean purse of struggling Nigerians, Federal Government, through its Central Bank, increased transaction fees for Automated Teller Machines.
The CBN announced that ATM withdrawals made at a machine owned by a bank but outside its branch premises will now attract a charge of N100 per N20,000 withdrawn. ATM withdrawals at shopping centres, airports or standalone cash points, will incur a N100 fee plus a surcharge of up to N500 per N20,000 withdrawal.
In the midst of all these hydraheaded Policy somersault the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria “over the failure to reverse the patently unlawful, unfair, unreasonable and unjust increase in ATM transaction fees.”
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/344/2025 filed recently at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP asked the court to determine “whether the decision by the CBN to increase ATM transaction fees is not arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable, and contrary to the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018.”
SERAP urged the court for “a declaration that the decision by the CBN to increase ATM transaction fees is arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable and contrary to the provisions of sections 1(c) and (d), 104, 105 and 127(1) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which is binding on the CBN.”
SERAP sought “an order of interim injunction restraining the CBN, its officers, agents, associates or any other persons acting on its directive or instructions from enforcing and giving effect to the decision, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for an order of interlocutory injunction filed in this suit.”
In the suit, SERAP argued that, “The increase cannot be justified under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, and the country’s international human rights obligations.”
It added, “The increase creates a two-tiered financial system that discriminates against poor Nigerians who may not be able to afford or pay the increased ATM fees.”
*Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to the rescue*
As a matter of expediency, the National leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) under the National President Comrade Joe Ajaero should be commended for providing leadership and being proactive to fight against some of anti peoples’ policies of the Federal Government.
Honestly, organized Labour in Nigeria is doing its best to provide leadership considering the present economic situations in the country
Consequent upon the above , the various Tariff increases and policy directionless of the Federal Government that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) issued a strong warning against the Federal Government’s potential implementation of telecommunication service charges that contradict the terms agreed upon by a 10-man committee, signaling the possibility of a nationwide protest.
This decision was reached at the NLC’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held recently in Yola, Adamawa State, where the congress also inaugurated its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-driven Mass Transit Buses for the North East Zone.
Quoting copiously from the communiqué jointly signed by the National President Comrade Joe Ajaero and General Secretary Emman Ugboaja the congress directed all its affiliates to remain on high alert for mass action if the Federal Government enforces the telecom tariff hike, despite the terms of an agreement reached on February 21, 2025. The agreement had reduced the originally proposed 50% tariff hike to 35%, but the NLC remains vigilant.
The congress warned that if the government fails to implement the agreement as stipulated, it will immediately take action in line with the directive of the Central Working Committee, issued on February 10, 2025.
The NLC has engaged in a series of negotiations with telecom companies and the Federal Government over the controversial tariff hike.
The communiqué expressed concern about the history of broken agreements, warning that any deviation from the agreed terms would trigger swift and decisive action.
“Having extensively discussed these existential threats to the working class and the broader Nigerian masses, NEC-in-session resolves as follows:
on the 35% tariff hike in telecommunications services: NEC acknowledges the agreement reached on February 21, 2025, between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Federal Government through the Joint 10-man committee, which reduced the initially proposed telecommunications tariff hike from 50% to 35%.
“However, congress remains vigilant, recognising the long history of infidelity. NEC categorically warns that should the implementation of the agreement on March 1, 2025, not be as agreed, the National Administrative Council is mandated to immediately deploy all necessary instruments to enforce compliance in line with the February 10th, 2025 Central Working Committee directive,” the statement read.
In addition to the telecoms issue, the NLC also condemned the ongoing reclassification of electricity consumers by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The NLC- NEC described the reclassification, which is aimed at increasing tariffs by moving consumers to higher bands, as a “sham” and accused NERC of imposing unfair charges under the pretext of service improvement.
The NLC argued that this is an unjustifiable financial burden on the Nigerian masses and a form of “economic violence” against the working class.
The communiqué further criticised what it called the ruling elite’s alignment with global monopolistic capital, which the NLC believes is exacerbating the economic hardship faced by Nigerians through continuous tariff hikes, increased taxation, and economic policies that primarily benefit the wealthy.
““Whereas inflation has soared, wages remain stagnant, and the cost of living has become unbearable, the ruling class continues to transfer the burden of their fiscal irresponsibility onto the already impoverished working masses,” the NLC stated.
The congress reaffirmed its opposition to any further electricity tariff increases, vowing to resist any attempts by the Ministry of Power and NERC to increase tariffs, insisting that any attempt to announce further electricity tariff hikes will be met with mass resistance. The congress also pledged to mobilise for a nationwide protest if the government moves forward with any such plans.
Furthermore, the NLC called on all its affiliates, industrial unions, and progressive allies to stay vigilant and prepare for mass action against policies it deems harmful to the Nigerian people.
“The congress reiterated its stance against corporate exploitation and neoliberal policies that it claims have led to the impoverishment of the masses. The NLC emphasized that sustainable development cannot be achieved under such conditions and urged Nigerians to remain resolute in their collective struggle for a fairer society.”
*Nigerians at crossroads of economic helplessness and hopelessness*
It is worrisome that despite the various confusions created by the Federal Government due to trial and error economic and socio political policies, Federal Government is yet to retrace its steps in some policies that are not pro-masses rather politics of 2027 is at their front burner, this is most uncharitable and inhuman.
Currently, Nigerians are helpless and hopeless in their own fatherland: no work, no shelter, no food and our Naira is valueless.
Survival of average Nigeria is sacrosanct so as to ensure the survival of the country.
*The Nigerian political Leadership should check their backs.*
I know and believe that one day this economic travail and human enslavement shall come to an end by the grace of God almighty
Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo milr fcia fimpa JP is a Trade Unionist and industrial relations practitioner
gbengaolowoyo3@gmail.com 08033570338
