By Henry Oduah
Security consultant Charles Omole has knocked the Federal Government for what he described as the lack of a security impact assessment of the new tax laws.
On 26 June 2025, President Bola Tinubu signed the four Tax Reform Bills into law. These laws include the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), the Nigeria Revenue Service Act (NRSA) and the Joint Revenue Board Act (JRBA).
Dr Omole said on Friday, while speaking on the topic “Governance, Democracy and National Security” on The Platform, an annual Democracy Day programme, that the security implications of the new tax laws will become apparent in January 2027.
“I have not seen any sign that the government has done any security impact assessment of those tax policies. Mark what I’m saying now: by January next year you will begin to see the security impact,” he said.
“Right now, because the enforcement of the new tax regime has been light-touch, Nigerians are not reacting yet. Wait till January. I earlier said one consequence of the new tax policy is that Nigerians will begin to hold cash at home, not in their bank accounts. And if a lot more people hold cash at home, what does that mean? More robberies. So what have we put in place to pre-empt that impact?”
Omole noted that Nigeria must move from security as a force to security as governance, adding that law enforcement units are not solely responsible for security.
“Bad land policy can create conflict, bad education policy can produce and recruit extremists, bad urban planning can create ungoverned spaces, bad economic policy can turn desperation into violence. Bad justice delivery can turn victims into vigilantes. So security is the duty of every department of government. But that has not been the case in our country,” he said, stressing that security must be made the job of the entire government.
