At a recent webinar organised for HR managers, payroll officers, CFOs and tax managers, in collaboration with the Joint Revenue Board, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, said every Nigerian must file their annual tax returns by March 31 of every year. In the webinar, posted on YouTube last Thursday, January 29, Oyedele stated: “All of us must file our returns, including those earning low income. You must file returns by 31st March of the year in respect of the previous fiscal year.”

The tax czar was speaking on the obligations Nigerians must meet under the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) — both laws President Bola Tinubu signed on June 26, 2025 — which have been subjects of controversy for nearly two months.

Three days after the webinar, on Sunday, February 1, the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, responded to the controversy surrounding the gazetting of the tax laws, describing it as a non-issue. “For us, we don’t have a basis to gazette different copies of the tax law. There is no need for it because there can only be one law,” the NRS chief said.

Both Oyedele and Adedeji would like Nigerians to believe that all is well and the new tax regime is smooth sailing, but reality betrays their optimism. Since December 17, 2025, when a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), alleged discrepancies between the tax reform laws passed by the National Assembly and the gazetted copies available to the public, confusion has reigned.

A review of the versions passed by the House and the copies gazetted by the executive branch revealed several discrepancies. For example, under Section 3(1)(b), the House-passed NTAA listed five categories of federal taxes under administration, including taxation of petroleum income and Value Added Tax (VAT). However, both items were removed from the gazetted Act, raising questions about the scope of federal tax administration.

Section 29 also introduces far-reaching changes to reporting obligations. While the House version provided for annual returns, with reporting thresholds of monthly cumulative ₦50 million for individuals and ₦250 million for companies, the gazetted Act replaces this with quarterly returns and significantly lowers the thresholds to monthly cumulative ₦25 million and ₦100 million, respectively.

These discrepancies led to calls from various stakeholders, including Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Senator Ali Ndume of Borno State — also a member of President Tinubu’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) — for the Federal Government to suspend implementation of the laws from January 1, 2026, as initially expected. But the government rebuffed these calls, forging ahead with implementation.

🇳🇬 JUST IN – “The tax law we passed is NOT what Tinubu signed. Nigerians were lied to.”

Senator Ndume exposes shocking Tax law manipulation in the Senate. https://t.co/jWNiGmBiWp pic.twitter.com/x4fP9UiQm4

— BSN (@Barristerstreet) January 28, 2026

Just over a month since the laws went into effect, the tax czar has been putting out fire after fire. Arguably, the biggest one has come from KPMG, a global network of professional services firms. In a newsletter published on January 9, the firm claimed that there were “errors, inconsistencies, gaps, omissions, and lacunae” in the new tax laws, which it said required urgent reconsideration to ensure the achievement of their stated objectives.

Pointing out some gaps, KPMG noted that Section 3(b) and (c) of the NTA specifies persons on whom taxes may be imposed but omits the term “community,” despite its inclusion in the definition of a “person.” The firm recommended that communities should be explicitly included or exempted for tax purposes to avoid ambiguity.

KPMG also recommended that Section 6(1) of the NTAA be amended to exempt non-resident companies whose income is subject to final tax deduction at source from tax registration. It argued that this would align with Section 11(3) of the NTAA, which already exempts such companies from filing tax returns.

However, a defiant Oyedele disagreed that there were significant issues with the laws and offered a detailed rebuttal. He said much of KPMG’s critique reflected a misunderstanding of the policy intent, a mischaracterisation of deliberate policy choices, and, in several instances, the repetition of opinions and preferences presented as facts. The tax czar, however, acknowledged that there may have been clerical inconsistencies or cross-referencing gaps in the laws, which are being identified within the government.

Amid the chaos from the gazetting controversy, inconsistencies in parts of the laws, and misinformation in some parts of the media, most Nigerians, including employees and businesses, have struggled to understand their obligations under the new tax regime. Although Oyedele has spent the last few months explaining the laws in various media, that is not a job for one man alone.

The statutory body responsible for what he has been doing almost singlehandedly — the National Orientation Agency (NOA) — has been missing in action for most of this process. On its website, the agency says its main objective is “to ensure that government programmes and policies are better understood by the general public.” Yet a review of the NOA’s X account shows that from January 1, when the new tax regime kicked off, to February 4, the agency has failed to address citizens’ obligations under the laws.

While over the last month it has found time to post about the Super Eagles’ African Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign in Morocco and Funke Akindele’s history-making movie, Behind the Scenes, the last time the NOA mentioned anything about public orientation on the tax laws was December 18, 2025, when it announced the inauguration of the Joint Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms for Public Awareness and Sensitisation.

NOA Leads Nationwide Drive to Build Public Trust in Nigeria’s Tax Reforms

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has taken the lead in ensuring Nigerians understand and trust the country’s ongoing tax reforms, describing effective communication as essential for successful policy… pic.twitter.com/JrmCmrto9p

— National Orientation Agency, Nigeria (@NOA_Nigeria) December 18, 2025

However, nearly two months after the 13-person committee was inaugurated, it remains unclear what it has done to “bridge the gap between policy and the public,” as it claims to be its mission. The media blackout suggests that the committee, like many government panels in Nigeria before it, has been largely non-functional — an enormous disservice to taxpayers.

The silence is deafening, and the clock is ticking.

With less than two months until the March 31 deadline for all Nigerians to file their annual tax returns, millions of citizens remain in the dark about what is actually expected of them. The rushed implementation of these complex reforms — moving from presidential assent in June 2025 to full enforcement by January 2026 — has left inadequate time for proper public education.

Consider the average Nigerian worker. They have heard conflicting information about tax thresholds, filing requirements, and penalties. They have watched officials argue publicly about what is actually in the law. They have seen technical debates between the tax czar and international accounting firms. But what they have not received is clear, accessible guidance on their specific obligations.

This is precisely where the NOA should have stepped in. The agency exists for moments like this, when government policy requires mass public understanding and compliance. Instead, it has been conspicuously absent from the conversation, seemingly more interested in celebrating entertainment milestones than fulfilling its core mandate.

The March 31 deadline is not moving. Penalties for late filing start at ₦100,000 in the first month. Yet how can the government fairly expect compliance when it has not invested in proper citizen education? Filing tax returns is unfamiliar territory for many Nigerians, particularly those in the informal sector who now find themselves subject to new requirements they barely understand.

Press statements and committee inaugurations are not public orientation. Real engagement requires sustained campaigns across multiple platforms — radio, television, town halls, simplified guides in local languages, and workplace seminars. The NOA has the infrastructure and mandate for this work. It is high time the agency stopped coasting on ceremonial announcements and actually earned its budget.

If the government wants voluntary compliance rather than mass confusion and penalties, the NOA should urgently mobilise. Nigerians deserve better than being left to figure out their tax obligations through social media speculation and webinar recordings. Although it is unclear whether the March 31 deadline will be enforced this year, there is still time for the NOA to mount an intensive awareness campaign that helps Nigerians understand their obligations under the new regime. Whether it will do so remains to be seen.