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Three issues that will dominate public discourse in 2026 are the tax man and the implementation of the new tax regime slated to commence in January next year, IGP Kayode Egbetokun’s obsession with the implementation of the tinted glass permit policy and the alleged plans to kill the opposition political parties. These issues are already generating enough heat to power Nigeria and other West African countries, including those under military hegemony, an aberration in a democracy.
Tax man and new tax regime
There are already fears that the new tax regime will dislocate all things especially in the banking sector where all bank accounts are reportedly said will be tied to owners’ TIN, tax identification number. Someone called me from the village panicking that his bank accounts will be closed if not linked with TIN. All my explanations that there is no cause for alarm probably fell on deaf ears. That caller from my village may not be alone on the confusion trailing the planned implementation of the controversial tax reforms.
The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, still has a lot to say and explain on the new tax laws before the January 2026 take off date. The explanations so far by Oyedele, the tax man, that the tax reforms are tailored to check inequality, excessive taxation and dated framework that had stifled small enterprises or businesses, are perhaps not hitting the right target. May be, the tax man will begin to speak the language of the people.
All these power point presentations and eloquence on major TV channels by Oyedele are, indeed, not reaching the target audience. They do not understand him. Even the so-called elite are still dazed and confused on the new tax regime. Nigerians hate to hear about tax and the tax man. Aba Women rioted or protested over tax matters in 1929. In the years of tax enforcement, some men run away on sighting the tax man or tax people who go to markets to enforce taxation. Rich Nigerians hate tax because it means parting with huge sums of money.
Next time, the tax man should use Pidgin to explain the so many jargons contained in the new tax regime literature. When it comes to tax matters, many Nigerians are illiterate. Those educating them on tax don’t speak the language of the people. How can the people understand the new tax regime and its implications when they coded in imprecise language.
This matter of tax filing by every Nigerian with bank accounts, including those selling rice and beans, fish and vegetables and even unemployed provided they found money in the account is a recipe for confusion, utter confusion. Woe betides you if your filing is wrong. People will be punished for the offence they did not commit due to wrong tax filing or whatever. The tax language should be simplified.
Right now, it is complicated. I don’t know why the government is complicating simple matters like tax and taxation. Another confusion trailing the new tax regime is this issue of linking or sharing our tax data with France. This MoU with France over tax administration, revenue system and data management should be handled transparently and cautiously. Let nobody deceive himself that the tax matter is settled. It is not. Its implementation in the New Year will throw up more challenges, contradictions and hidden agenda of the tax reforms. Keep your eyes wide open over the tax matter.
Egbetokun’s obsession with tinted glass
The haste to implement the Tinted Glass Permit policy by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, despite subsisting court case over the matter, is also confusing. Of all the challenges facing the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Tinted Glass Permit is the least of them. IGP Egbetokun should be concerned more with the heightened insecurity facing the country since his assumption of office than check vehicles with tinted glass and other distraction.
Egbetokun, who boasted that he would roar like a lion when newly appointed and has forgotten that vow, is now obsessed with searching for vehicles with tinted glass permit. This is a misplaced priority. The NPF under Egbetokun should roar like a Lion or even Tiger. A man whose house is on fire should not be chasing rats. This fixation on implementation of the tinted glass permit policy is to create jobs for the boys. It will further entrench corruption in the force.
It will further escalate extortion in the force and further taint its sagging image. It will not enhance our ongoing war against insecurity. The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has raised some pertinent issues over the matter. Egbotokun should listen and heed them. Let’s obey our laws. Nobody is above the law. No institution is above the law.
The opposition lamentation
The leaders of opposition have lamented over brazen attempts to whittle the opposition political parties and render them impotent before the 2027 election season. Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Bode George and others have alleged that the government is using state institutions, including the EFCC, ICPC and the Police to harass and prosecute key opposition leaders.
Their fears are genuine considering the wave of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) probably to eat jollof rice and pepper soup and drink choice wines. The opposition leaders allege that these defections are forced and not ordinary. They allege that the intractable crises in opposition parties are engineered by Aso Rock so that only the APC will be formidable before the 2027 contest. The Presidency has swiftly dismissed the charge by the opposition that our multi-party democracy is under threat.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the recent criticism by the opposition amounted to a ‘subterfuge and an empty search for scapegoats’ by individuals unwilling to accept their political decline. He said that defecting to APC is voluntary and stressed that the Constitution guarantees the freedom of association and the right to change political affiliation. The fear over the looming one-party state is genuine. Let the APC not bloat or even jubilate over it. It is an evil wind. It will hurt all the parties and ruin our democracy.
Goodbye Siyan Oyeweso
The demise of my good friend and brother, Prof. Gafar Siyan Oyeweso, is saddening. I didn’t know that Prof was sick. The last time we spoke, there was nothing to suggest ill-health. The great historian, scholar and iconic Nigerian will be missed by all. His death is personal loss to me. We met in Lagos State University, Ojo, some years back in the course of my duty. That first meeting over 20 years ago was vivacious and memorable and we became friends and brothers. Prof was a great Nigerian patriot. He believed in the great Nigerian project.
He lived and professed history in all ramifications. Prof was a quintessential historian. He was liberal and generous. He was cerebral and engaging. He used history as a tool for social engineering and deepening of knowledge. In his death, I have lost a good friend and dependable ally. In his death, History has suffered a terrible setback. He edited the seminal work: Perspectives on the Nigerian Civil War in 1992. He was on the point of finishing another work on the Nigerian Civil War before death struck. His inaugural lecture at LASU in 2006 titled, “The Undertakers, the Python’s Eye and Footsteps of the Ant: The Historian’s Burden” was scholarly engaging. He gave me some books and encouraged me during my doctoral studies in UNILAG. Prof later went to teach at Osun State University. Until his death, he was the Pro-Chancellor of his alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. My condolences go to the family and friends and I pray that God will give them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. May Almighty God grant him eternal rest in Paradise.
