2026 Tax Reform: NECA raises alarm, seeks urgent safeguards for businesses, jobs
Barely a day to the proposed January 1, 2026 rollout of Nigeria’s sweeping tax reform, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has raised a red flag, warning that without urgent coordination, deep consultation and political restraint, the policy could further strain already fragile businesses.
The warning was issued at NECA’s end-of-year media engagement held Tuesday (today, December 30) at NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, where the association cautioned that ambition alone will not deliver a successful tax reform.
Speaking at the event, NECA’s Director-General and Chief Executive, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said the reform’s fate would be determined by how well government aligns policy intentions with the harsh realities facing Nigerian businesses.
Oyerinde noted that while 2026 could mark a turning point for Nigeria’s fiscal and monetary reforms, it also coincides with the build-up to the 2027 general elections, an overlap he warned could derail disciplined implementation.
“Politics will naturally take centre stage from January,” Oyerinde said. “But economic reforms, especially tax reforms, require focus, stability and sustained attention. They cannot survive as side issues in an election year.”
He said NECA’s primary test for the reform is simple but fundamental: will it help businesses survive, expand and create jobs, or will it deepen existing pressures?
According to him, while Nigerian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises—have demonstrated remarkable resilience despite inflation, foreign exchange volatility, insecurity and regulatory uncertainty, such endurance must not be mistaken for sustainability.
“The Nigerian spirit is not a substitute for good policy,” Oyerinde stressed. “Doggedness alone cannot keep businesses alive in a hostile operating environment.”
He lamented that multiple taxation, overlapping regulations and policy contradictions across ministries, departments and agencies continue to undermine productivity, erode investor confidence and threaten employment—the very problems the tax reform is expected to solve.
Addressing controversies surrounding the tax reform bill, Oyerinde described the process as necessary but imperfect, noting that no tax reform anywhere in the world is flawless at inception.
“What matters is the willingness to amend, consult and correct,” he said, welcoming the scrutiny by the House of Representatives and the work of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform as essential democratic safeguards.
NECA also warned against the tendency of some regulatory agencies to pursue narrow mandates without considering wider economic consequences, citing sudden bans, new fees and regulations that could wipe out investments worth hundreds of billions of naira.
“If investors cannot predict policy stability over a 10-year horizon, capital will simply go elsewhere,” Oyerinde warned, adding that tax reform should simplify compliance, eliminate duplication and align incentives—not drive businesses underground.
Linking economic reform to national security, he argued that unemployment remains a key driver of insecurity. “You don’t fight insecurity only with guns,” he said. “You fight it by creating jobs, growing businesses and giving people a stake in the economy.”
As the implementation date draws near, NECA urged government to intensify transparent communication and stakeholder engagement, warning that poorly executed tax reform in an election year could become another missed opportunity.
“2026 can still be the year Nigeria turns the corner,” Oyerinde said, “but only if tax reform is people-centred, business-friendly and guided by a clear understanding of its ripple effects across the economy.”
