Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over what he described as the President Bola Tinubu administration’s excessive appetite for taxation, saying Nigerians and businesses were groaning under the burden of multiple taxes and levies.
The former vice-president also described the administration’s response to the United States Government’s assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency as an embarrassing attempt to bury a serious indictment beneath bureaucratic grammar.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency had failed to address the substance of the assessment, choosing instead to dismiss it as an “external benchmark” that did not adequately capture the administration’s reforms.
The United States reported that Nigeria failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements and made “no significant progress” in addressing deficiencies relating to budget information, revenue and expenditure reporting, audit independence and public access to procurement information.
Atiku said: “What exactly is the Tinubu Presidency saying? Nigeria failed the minimum fiscal transparency test, and its response is essentially: ‘Yes, we failed, but the test does not tell the whole story.’
“That is not a defence. It is an admission wrapped in grammar.
“If, after all the reforms this administration advertises, Nigeria still cannot satisfy minimum fiscal transparency requirements, the problem is not the assessment. The problem is the government.
“The contradiction is even more disturbing when the government’s appetite for taxation is considered. The CBN’s July 2026 Business Expectations Survey showed that 70.8 per cent of respondents identified high and multiple taxation as their biggest business constraint.
“Yet, the same administration understands the importance of tax relief when dealing with major oil operators, offering performance-based incentives to attract investment.
“So, Tinubu understands that excessive taxation can discourage investment when large corporations are involved, but somehow forgets the same economic principle when Nigerian manufacturers, SMEs, traders and entrepreneurs are being suffocated by multiple taxes and levies.
“You cannot demand first-class compliance from taxpayers while offering third-class accountability in return.”
Atiku also challenged Tinubu over his promise to “soon publish” details of how resources accruing from the removal of fuel subsidy were being utilised.
“Soon? More than three years after Nigerians were asked to endure extraordinary hardship in the name of subsidy removal?
“Open the books now. Publish a full account of the subsidy savings and show Nigerians, project by project, where the money went.
“Publish the financial details of the rehabilitation of government-owned refineries: How much was spent, who received the contracts, what was delivered and why Nigerians are again being promised that the refineries will ‘come back to work.’
“The answer to an accusation of opacity is transparency, not another press statement.
“If the U.S. assessment is wrong, disprove it with the records. If it is incomplete, complete the picture with the accounts.
“Nigerians have paid enough. They have sacrificed enough. President Tinubu should stop explaining and start accounting.
“Open the books. Show Nigerians the money.
“The Tinubu government has failed a fundamental test of accountability, and Nigerians are living with the consequences of that failure every day in worsening hardship.
“The country is bleeding, and the evidence is no longer hidden. It is reflected in local economic data, in the daily struggles of Nigerian families and businesses, and in the assessments of international economic observers.
“Nigeria cannot afford another four years of failure disguised as reform. Tinubu’s failure must not be repeated,” Atiku said.