Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and the Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), Olusegun Adesokan, have declared that the era of multiple and overlapping taxation in Nigeria would soon become a thing of the past as the country deepens implementation of its new tax reforms, with 18 states adopting the harmonised tax law.
They said the reforms were already producing significant changes in the nation’s tax administration by harmonising taxes and levies, reducing duplication, easing the burden on low-income earners and micro businesses, and deploying technology to minimise revenue leakages.
The governor and the JRB Executive Secretary spoke separately at the 160th meeting of the Joint Revenue Board in Kaduna, themed: “One Year of Tax Reform: Assessing Progress and Addressing Challenges.”
The meeting provided an opportunity for tax authorities and stakeholders to assess progress made one year into the implementation of the reforms and identify outstanding challenges.
Giving an overview of the reforms, Adesokan disclosed that 18 state Houses of Assembly had domesticated the Model Harmonised Taxes and Levies Law, marking a significant step towards eliminating overlapping and duplicated taxes imposed by different tiers of government.
He said the new legislation had reduced the more than 50 collection items previously administered by state and local governments to just nine sub-heads.
According to him, the reduction was designed to simplify the tax system, provide greater certainty for taxpayers and eliminate the proliferation of taxes and levies that had continued to impose unnecessary burdens on individuals and businesses.
The JRB Executive Secretary also disclosed that the model law had abolished cash collection and the mounting of roadblocks for revenue collection.
He said the measures had recorded significant progress in harmonising taxes and levies across subnational governments.
Adesokan also rejected the perception that the tax reform was designed to increase the burden on Nigerians, insisting that the new regime was, in fact, intended to provide relief for low-income earners and micro-scale businesses.
He said the reforms had eliminated multiple nuisance taxes while introducing measures aimed at reducing the tax burden on vulnerable taxpayers and small businesses.
Speaking while declaring the meeting open, Sani said the reforms had not only addressed the problem of multiple taxation but had also strengthened revenue generation.
He said Nigeria’s tax revenue had risen significantly in recent years, from approximately N10.1 trillion in 2023 to N21.6 trillion in 2024 and about N36.8 trillion in 2025.
The governor added that revenue generated in the first half of 2026 alone reached approximately N21.6 trillion, representing a 49 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for taking what he described as a “bold and politically demanding decision” to fundamentally reform Nigeria’s tax architecture through landmark legislation, including the Act that transformed the former Joint Tax Board into the Joint Revenue Board.
According to him, the reforms were aimed at simplifying Nigeria’s complex tax environment, reducing multiple and overlapping taxation, deploying technology and e-invoicing to minimise leakages, and consolidating revenue administration.
He said the reforms were also intended to rebuild the relationship between government and taxpayers.
“The objective, therefore, should not simply be to collect more revenue. It should be to build a tax system in which compliance becomes easier, enforcement becomes more intelligent and voluntary participation becomes the norm rather than the exception,” he said.
The governor also commended the immediate past Executive Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Jerry Adams, and his team for increasing the state’s internally generated revenue from barely N4 billion to N10 billion monthly.
Sani said the revenue figures were more than fiscal statistics, arguing that they demonstrated an emerging capacity by governments to finance development increasingly from domestic resources.
The governor also paid tribute to the Chairman of the Joint Revenue Board and Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, for what he described as his “exceptional leadership and statesmanship” in advancing the tax reform agenda.
Earlier, Adedeji, who was represented at the meeting by the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Muhammad L. Abubakar, said the theme of the meeting was a call for the Board to take stock of progress made in implementing the reforms, address identified gaps and confront emerging challenges.
Wale Igbintade
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