INTERVIEW: Poor Governance Not Excuse For Tax Evasion, Says Varsity Don

Many Nigerians are averse to paying taxes, largely due to a lack of trust in government. The Nigeria Tax Reform Acts, signed into law in mid-2025 and effective January 1, 2026, have generated controversy, with many citizens questioning why they should pay taxes when they already provide most services for themselves.

However, in this interview with THE WHISTLER‘s Ikenna OMEJE on the sidelines of Tax Reform Forum and Conference 2026 held at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, a tax and finance expert, Professor Godwin Oyedokun argues that poor governance is not an excuse for citizens to avoid paying taxes, as it is mandated by law.

A scholar-practitioner with over 20 years of multidisciplinary experience, Oyedokun also speaks on criticisms surrounding the new tax laws, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system and consolidated over a dozen legacy laws into a unified framework aimed at reducing fragmentation, eliminating nuisance taxes, and simplifying compliance. Excerpts:

BRIEFLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF.

My name is Professor Godwin Emmanuel Oyedokun.

I’m a professor of accounting and finance at Leeds City University, Ibadan). I also have a tax consulting firm and an audit firm. I’m a public speaker, trainer, educationist and the likes.

IN YOUR KEYNOTE ADDRESS, YOU ARGUED THAT CITIZENS SHOULD NOT EXPECT DIRECT BENEFITS IN EXCHANGE FOR PAYING TAXES. WHY DO YOU HOLD THAT POSITION?

I think people should just get me clear. What I’m saying is that for the purpose of payment of taxes, people will say, ‘why should I pay tax when government is not doing anything?’ And I’m saying, tax is a matter of law. And law does not say, ‘pay tax so that you can get this’.

Law does not say, ‘pay tax so that government can do this’. No.

It is the function of the government to make sure our lives are okay. But, their responsibility aside, the constitution also places responsibility on us to pay tax. And people should ordinarily not vent on, ‘I will pay tax if I see what they are doing for me’. No. That’s just what I’m saying.

A LOT OF PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY POLITICIANS, HAVE CRITICISED THE NIGERIAN TAX ACT, SAYING THAT THE POOR SHOULD NOT BE TAXED. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THAT?

Whoever is criticising this current tax law is ignorant, including politicians without apology.

Because I’ve demonstrated to us today that this current tax law is better in terms of human feelings than the previous ones. I’m not saying it’s sufficient, but it’s far, far better than what we used to have. And I just said it.

Before, if you receive income, you pay tax. But now, they are saying, even when you receive income, you will not pay tax on all. Let us see the threshold.

Remove the threshold. It is the one on top of the threshold that you start paying tax on. So, how can politicians that did not read the letters of the tax law condemn what they don’t understand? Can you give what you don’t have?

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MAIN REASON NIGERIANS ARE AVERSE TO PAYING TAXES?

It’s lack of trust in governments.
Even people that are shouting that they don’t want to pay tax, they have not been paying taxes. How many of (the) people shouting that they don’t want to pay… Some of them are not even paying taxes. If you are not working in a structured organisation in Nigeria, you are not paying much of the taxes.

Except you are saying, okay, those days, you want to go and buy something in market. And if you buy something in market those days, and it’s not in official market, you will still not pay tax. My mother is selling oranges on the road with banana.

She’s not charging you VAT. It’s only when you go to shopping mall, those days, that you pay. And as it is now, according to the new law, if you now go to shopping mall, you are not supposed to pay on those things.

So, what are we talking about? It’s ignorance. People still do not understand.

HOW CAN NIGERIA HARMONISE TAXATION AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL TO PROTECT INFORMAL WORKERS LIKE DRIVERS AND TRADERS FROM EXPLOITATION?

People that are collecting money from you in garages, they are not government. They are your people.

Agbero is not working for government. They have their own account. If you don’t want them again, there’s a way. The way you protested against ENDSARS, have you protested against Agbero? They are your people.

They are your parents. They are your brothers. They are your sisters.

And they are the ones that agreed, because it’s a union that we want to be collecting (dues). So, if they don’t want to collect, they know what to do. They won’t collect money from me as a private car owner.

It’s an association. You belong to association if you are a journalist. You pay subscription there.

That’s their own subscription. If you don’t want to pay, go back to your association and fight it out. You are just putting everything on government.

If you belong to an association of market sellers, and you are paying money there, don’t say it’s government. My mom, that is not your member, will not pay. National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), I am not paying (dues to them) because I am not their member. So, stop saying Agbero. Agbero cannot collect money from me, unless I carry my wahala (trouble), go there and say I want to go and pick their passengers. If government provides transportation, will Agbero be able to go and collect money from the TCTC of Ibadan, those days, or BRT? No.

But again, what can we do? It’s their livelihood. It’s employing some people. As a teacher, I am collecting salary. If I belong to association of teachers, I will pay subscription there.

Tailors in your environment. If you go to that environment and you bring your machine and you are sewing clothes, they will come and seize it unless you pay.

The same way Agbero (do it). This is their own livelihood. If you stop them, what do you want them to be doing? And they are not collecting money from your father unless your father is a member.

WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE NEW TAX LAWS?

The tax law is okay. However, as I summarised, individual blocks, individual advocacy groups should now start exploring the tax law and see how it affects them, then make case to government. You will see government will do something in terms of relief.

In fact, whether you like it or not, there are some reliefs that have been granted underneath that you don’t know. There are some suspensions of some provisions because some people made case. You can’t just sit down in your village and be shouting.

Just make case. If it’s affecting journalists, how? Make case. Meet with the government.

They will tell you what they will do. I trust them. If there’s any government that listens, (it’s this one). It is only in this dispensation that government will want to do something, people will shout and they will now reverse it. Has it happened before? I hope we will not have another president one day that will not listen to us.