Joseph Tegbe, chairman of the national tax policy implementation committee (NTPIC), says Nigeria’s tax compliance challenge is rooted in years of weak accountability and limited public trust in government.
Tegbe spoke on Thursday at the 2026 Tax Conference organised by BusinessDay in Abuja, where policymakers and tax experts discussed ongoing reforms aimed at rebuilding public trust and expanding the country’s revenue base.
“The problem is that the social contract has been broken for so many years. It didn’t just happen today, so it will take time to rebuild trust with the people,” Tegbe said.
He also spoke on the need for stronger civic engagement, particularly at the local government level, where citizens can more easily hold public officials accountable.
Tegbe added that rebuilding trust between citizens and government is essential for the success of ongoing tax reforms and broader fiscal policy measures.
“When somebody is not seeing it yet, but we will see it,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, Michael Ango, acting executive chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), said misinformation and public apprehension initially slowed acceptance of ongoing tax reforms.
According to Ango, negative and often uninformed commentary created fear among Nigerians, although sustained engagement by government officials has helped address some of the concerns.
“The first challenge is the one of apprehension that was created by some of the negative commentary — uninformed commentary,” he said.
“But thankfully, we have been able to overcome that largely due to the work the Presidential Fiscal Policy Committee has done in explaining that these reforms are really for Nigerians.”
Ango said beyond misinformation, Nigeria’s tax challenge is also tied to civic attitudes and weak citizen engagement with public institutions.
“For us as tax administrators, the next challenge is attitude,” he said.
“You don’t renew your driver’s licence until you are forced to. You don’t pay your taxes until the tax authority writes to you.”
The tax expert said enforcement mechanisms remain weak, while influence peddling also undermines tax administration when individuals attempt to use personal connections to avoid paying assessments.
Ango added that reforms are aimed at changing public perception of taxation, encouraging citizens to see the tax system as something to engage with rather than fear.
He also highlighted plans to introduce a tax ombudsman to serve as an independent channel between taxpayers and authorities.
“If a taxpayer receives an assessment and doesn’t understand it, they should be able to walk into the ombudsman’s office and receive assistance,” he said.
In his remarks, Uche Uwaleke, professor of capital markets and director of the Institute of Capital Market Studies at Nasarawa State University, said recent tax reforms are also designed to encourage investment while blocking revenue leakages.
