KEY POINTS

• Oyedele says Nigeria tax reform success hinges on fairness, not revenue.
• Four new laws anchor the reform, covering tax administration and revenue collection.
• The Purple Book consolidates outcomes from the 2025 Gender and Inclusion Summit.

Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele drew a clear line at a policy event in Abuja this week, telling stakeholders that Nigeria tax reform would ultimately stand or fall on how fairly it distributes economic opportunity, not on how aggressively it collects revenue from citizens.

Oyedele made the declaration at the Policy Innovation Centre’s launch of the Purple Book, a guide designed to advance gender equity and social inclusion in governance. Furthermore, the event brought together policymakers, development partners, private sector leaders, and civil society voices to examine how the 2026 fiscal changes can open doors specifically for women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Reform as a social contract

The minister’s representative, Albert Folorunsho, told the gathering that the Nigeria tax reform agenda had already produced four landmark pieces of legislation, covering the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Act, and the Joint Revenue Board Act.

Together, these laws represent the most comprehensive fiscal overhaul the country has attempted in decades. “Tax reform is often viewed as a technical exercise. But at its core, it is about nation-building,” Folorunsho said. He added that when a tax system operates transparently and equitably, it enables government to invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and security.

Purple Book targets the last mile

The Purple Book consolidates key recommendations from the 2025 Gender and Inclusion Summit and sets practical steps for deepening gender-responsive policymaking ahead of the 2026 summit, themed “Making Innovation Count for the Last Mile.” Stakeholders at the event stressed, however, that inclusion-focused discussions must translate into measurable outcomes on the ground.

With over 92 percent of Nigeria’s workforce in the informal sector, officials argued that simplifying compliance and eliminating multiple taxation matters far more to ordinary Nigerians than higher rates ever could. Consequently, the reforms exempt individuals earning below N800,000 annually from personal income tax and shield small businesses earning below N100 million from Company Income Tax entirely.