The Sanity Multi-Efforts Forum (SMEF RC 9565689) has described the 2025 Tax Reform Acts as a product of cooperative federalism, dismissing claims that the reforms are undermined by the lack of amendment to the 1999 Constitution.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Lokoja-based Civil Society Organisation said it was responding to what it described as misinformation surrounding the new tax regime, following its review of a recent Channels Television interview featuring the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms and Fiscal Policy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.
SMEF said Oyedele had made clear that the federal centre cannot dictate to states and local governments on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is why the Presidential Committee worked with the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) to draft a Tax Harmonisation Law for sub-nationals rather than impose a federal directive.
“That is cooperative federalism at work,” the group said, noting that Ekiti, Zamfara, Anambra, Kano and Lagos have either enacted or promised to enact the harmonisation law, voluntarily domesticating it because it makes economic sense.
On the question of constitutionality, SMEF said the Tax Reform Acts 2025 were duly passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, operating within Sections 4(2), 7(1) and 8(4) of the 1999 Constitution, which vest taxing powers on the three tiers of government.
It said the reform’s purpose is to clarify roles, remove duplication, harmonise collection, and strengthen the JRB as a constitutional platform for coordination, not to amend the constitution by force.
The forum also linked the reform to its own mandate of shielding the poor and small businesses from harassment and illegal levies. Citing Oyedele, it highlighted key provisions including a Presumptive Tax Regime exempting businesses with annual turnover of N12 million or less, Tax Exemption Stickers for artisans and roadside traders, and a strategy focusing enforcement on high-yield taxpayers.
SMEF described the reform as a national collaboration between the Federal Government, states and local governments through the JRB to achieve “Sanity in Revenue,” and called on Nigerians, community leaders and non-state actors to stop spreading misinformation and instead support efforts toward transparency and reduced burden on the poor.
“Let us engage with facts. Let us choose Sanity over Sentiment,” the group said.
