Ireti Kingibe, the senator for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has claimed that Nigeria’s new tax laws require each citizen to pay 25 per cent of their earnings as tax, including that the authorities has but to implement the provision as a result of it fears criticism from Nigerians.
Mrs Kingibe, a member of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the claim whereas addressing her supporters at a gathering in Abuja. The date of the occasion couldn’t be independently established, however a video of her remarks, delivered in pidgin English, has gone viral on social media.
She urged her supporters to vote in opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in any respect ranges, arguing that the authorities’s insurance policies have worsened the hardship confronted by Nigerians.
Among the insurance policies she criticised have been the 4 tax reform laws handed by the National Assembly and signed into legislation by President Bola Tinubu, in addition to will increase in electrical energy tariffs.
Speaking on the tax laws, Mrs Kingibe, who is searching for re-election, claimed that they comprise a provision requiring Nigerians to pay 25 per cent of their earnings to the authorities. She additional stated that though the National Assembly had handed the laws and the president had assented to them, implementation had not begun as a result of the authorities feared public backlash.
“This is our nation, and we should take it again. They is not going to do it for us. We are the ones who should do it. If we’re not proud of the state of the nation, we’re the ones who should change it. Nobody else can do it for us. We should rise up and say sufficient is sufficient. We we’ve got had sufficient.
“How do you anticipate folks to cope? You elevated electrical energy tariffs, however what have you ever completed with the cash? Nothing. Now, you need to improve taxes to 25 per cent of every thing folks earn, when what they at present earn is not even sufficient to meet their wants.
“And all these things I have told you about have already been passed into law by the National Assembly. It is only fear that has prevented them from implementing them,” she stated.
Mrs Kingibe, who was initially elected into the Senate on the Labour Party ticket, warned her supporters in opposition to voting for the ruling occasion, saying that Nigerians would face extra hardship if the APC remained in energy.
“If you make the mistake of permitting them to proceed, the form of struggling you’ll expertise is one thing you haven’t even begun to think about.
“We have endured 12 or 16 years of the APC, and we have not enjoyed its government. The time to change it has come. Just as we changed the PDP when it began to make life difficult for us, the time has come to change the APC,” she said.
Checking the claim
To confirm the claim, PREMIUM TIMES examined the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, notably Section 58, which offers for the private revenue tax charges relevant to people, topic to the statutory exception for people incomes the nationwide minimal wage.
The Nigeria Tax Act and its three companion tax reform laws have been handed by the National Assembly in June 2025, gazetted in September 2025 and commenced on 1 January 2026.
Section 58 states: “The income tax payable on the chargeable income of an individual, other than an individual earning the Minimum Wage in line with the Minimum Wage Act, in respect of each year of assessment, shall be as specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.”
This provision doesn’t impose a flat 25 per cent tax on each Nigerian’s whole earnings. Instead, it refers to the progressive charges laid out in the Act’s Fourth Schedule, which apply to chargeable revenue.
Under the schedule, the first N800,000 of annual chargeable revenue is taxed at zero per cent. The subsequent N2.2 million attracts 15 per cent, the subsequent N9 million attracts 18 per cent, and the subsequent N13 million attracts 21 per cent. The subsequent N25 million is taxed at 23 per cent, whereas any quantity above N50 million attracts 25 per cent.
The 25 per cent fee is subsequently the highest private revenue tax fee, not a flat fee imposed on everybody’s whole earnings. The progressive system means that totally different parts of a person’s chargeable revenue are taxed at the charges relevant to the respective bands.
For instance, an individual with N1 million in annual chargeable revenue would pay no tax on the first N800,000, whereas the remaining N200,000 would be taxed at 15 per cent. The ensuing tax legal responsibility would be N30,000, assuming the N1 million represents chargeable revenue after relevant deductions and reliefs.
The precise tax payable is dependent upon a person’s chargeable revenue and the deductions, reliefs and exemptions for which they qualify underneath the legislation.
The Act additionally offers for exemptions relating to minimum-wage earners. Section 58 excludes people incomes the nationwide minimal wage from the progressive charges laid out in the Fourth Schedule, whereas Section 162 offers an exemption for employment revenue the place an worker’s gross revenue doesn’t exceed the nationwide minimal wage.
Other eligible deductions may scale back chargeable revenue. These embrace qualifying pension contributions and lease reduction of 20 per cent of annual lease paid, capped at N500,000, topic to the situations set out in the legislation.
Senator insists on claim
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mrs Kingibe to confirm the viral video and search clarification on her remarks, notably her claim about the tax laws.
She acknowledged telling her supporters that the laws require Nigerians to pay 25 per cent of their revenue as tax and insisted that the provision was contained in the laws.
The senator additionally confirmed that she had stated implementation had not begun as a result of the authorities was afraid of criticism forward of the 2027 basic elections.
“The tax documents. The tax reform bill is a public document, everybody can read it. It is not like I disclose a secret. It’s a public document. We have passed it, it is true. It has not been implemented yet, that is also true because I think maybe they’re afraid to implement it before the general election,” she informed PREMIUM TIMES.
However, the laws commenced on 1 January 2026, opposite to her claim that implementation had but to start.
Tax professional’s feedback
To make clear the provisions of the legislation, PREMIUM TIMES contacted Okey Udo, a fellow and chartered tax practitioner at Vog Global Consult and a member of the schooling committee of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).
Mr Udo stated the senator’s claim was both primarily based on a misunderstanding of the laws or politically motivated.
“It is politically guided and ignorantly expressed. The assertion collapses on chronology and content. A statute that has been operating for 10 months cannot be one the government is ‘afraid to implement until after the elections,” he stated.
He additionally rejected the lawmaker’s claim that each Nigerian is required to pay 25 per cent of their earnings as tax.
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“The ‘25 per cent of every Nigerian’s earnings’ determine is equally false. The Act taxes the first N800,000 of taxable annual revenue after deducting related reduction at 0 per cent, applies a progressive schedule thereafter, and reaches 25 per cent solely on revenue above N50 million, a one-point rise on the outdated 24 per cent ceiling that impacts a tiny fraction of earners whereas people incomes up to N20 million yearly see decreased PAYE liabilities.
“The 25 per cent that Taiwo Oyedele has publicly spoken about as a future risk is one thing else solely: the Act permits company revenue tax to be introduced down from 30 per cent to 25 per cent as the tax base widens and the economic system stabilises, a reduction for corporations, not a levy on people.
“The graphic conflates a prospective corporate rate cut with a non-existent flat personal tax, misspells the Senator’s name, cites no date, venue or Senate record, and frames the matter in campaign language. It is a social-media card, not a legislative fact, and nothing in the Act, the gazette or the Hansard supports it,” he stated.
Verdict
The claim that Nigeria’s tax laws require each citizen to pay 25 per cent of their earnings as tax is false.
The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, offers for progressive private revenue tax charges, with 25 per cent making use of solely to the portion of annual chargeable revenue exceeding N50 million. It doesn’t impose a flat 25 per cent tax on each Nigerian’s whole earnings.
The legislation additionally offers for exemptions and deductions, together with provisions relating to minimum-wage earners and eligible reliefs. Consequently, a person’s tax legal responsibility is dependent upon their chargeable revenue and the relevant statutory provisions.
The tax laws commenced on 1 January 2026. The senator’s claim that the authorities has but to implement them as a result of it fears public criticism forward of the 2027 elections is subsequently inconsistent with the said graduation date of the laws.
Mrs Kingibe, a member of the tenth Senate that handed the tax reform laws, has maintained that the laws require Nigerians to pay 25 per cent of their earnings. However, the related provisions of the Act don’t assist her claim.
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