An Ogun State chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, on Tuesday insisted that the country is ripe for tax reforms, saying any opposition to the economic reforms amounts to shameless propaganda.\n<\/p>\n
Showunmi said that with the tax reforms scheduled to take off in 2026, Nigeria is neither acting in isolation nor experimenting recklessly, but taking steps consistent with international best practice to enhance national prosperity.\n<\/p>\n
The PDP chieftain disclosed this while reacting to the opposition stance of the National Opposition Movement towards the implementation of the tax reforms.\n<\/p>\n
The NOM, at a briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, had strongly criticised the Federal Government\u2019s plan to introduce the new tax regime from January, describing it as punitive, ill-timed, and insensitive to the realities facing households and small businesses.<\/p>\n
The group said the proposed tax framework would impose additional burdens on citizens already struggling under the combined effects of fuel subsidy removal, currency depreciation, rising food prices, and increasing electricity tariffs.\n<\/p>\n
It therefore called on the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the new tax regime.\n<\/p>\n
However, Showunmi, in a statement on Thursday, said that \u201cwhat the National Opposition Movement has offered Nigerians is not a credible alternative economic vision but a familiar mixture of alarmism, selective outrage and political nostalgia\u201d.<\/p>\n
He described NOM members as \u201ca bunch of recycled, past-their-shelf-life gangs of failed politicians who mistake noise for policy and outrage for ideas\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
He warned that those who presided over years of fiscal indiscipline, opaque revenue systems and structural weakness should prepare for elections rather than attempt to obstruct a reform process that is essential to restructuring Nigeria\u2019s finances and building a sustainable fiscal framework for the future. <\/p>\n
Showunmi said, \u201cNigeria has already walked this road. The same voices condemning tax reform today declared that removing fuel subsidy would collapse the country. Instead, Nigeria dismantled what has wasted her resources for many years.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made identical claims about reforms in the foreign exchange regime. Today, international rating agencies and global peer-review institutions acknowledge improved transparency and coherence in Nigeria\u2019s FX framework.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He further explained, \u201cAcross Africa, countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa expanded taxpayer registration, introduced compulsory tax identification, digital filing and stricter compliance regimes, often in periods of economic stress.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThese reforms were resisted politically, branded anti-poor and accused of bad timing. Yet today, these countries enjoy stronger revenue performance, improved investor confidence and greater fiscal space for social spending.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Showunmi added, \u201cOpposition is legitimate. Propaganda is not. Nigeria cannot be held hostage by those who offer no credible alternatives beyond suspension, delay and a return to fiscal chaos.<\/p>\n
\u201cReform is never painless, but postponing reform only deepens the pain and transfers the burden to future generations.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria is following the same difficult but necessary path taken by reforming economies across the world. Those who oppose it should do so with facts, honesty and workable solutions, not theatrical despair and recycled slogans.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Nigeria is currently in a transitional phase, with comprehensive tax reforms enacted into law in June 2025 and scheduled for implementation from January 1, 2026.\n<\/p>\n
The reforms, driven by the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, aim to simplify the tax system, broaden the tax base and improve revenue administration.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Ogun State chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-322916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}