The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has declared its plan to embark on massive protest and march to the Presidential Villa gate in Abuja on January 14, in opposition to the implementation of the new Tax Laws set to commence on January 1, 2026.
NANS announced the plan through a statement on Tuesday by its President, Comrade Olushola Oladoja.
The national student body made its stance known in response to the Presidency’s insistence that the implementation of the controversial laws would continue as planned.
In a statement he personally signed earlier on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed that the laws, signed in June 2025 after extensive legislative review, would commence as planned, describing them as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a fair, competitive, and robust fiscal foundation.”
He emphasized that the reforms aim to provide relief rather than increase burdens, and pledged cooperation with the National Assembly to resolve any lingering issues.
However, NANS expressed “profound disappointment and total lack of confidence” in President Tinubu’s fiscal advisers, accusing them of pushing the administration toward “an avoidable national confrontation” over the new tax regime.
The student body singled out the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, describing him as “a total failure” in managing stakeholder engagements and implementation strategy.
“His incompetence, poor stakeholder management, and disastrous implementation strategy are clearly on the verge of eroding the hard-earned gains of the Tinubu administration in other critical sectors of the economy,” the statement read in part.
In an earlier statement on Monday, NANS had urged the Federal government to suspend the implementation of the laws due to poor public enlightenment and alleged alterations of the provisions of the laws.
In its latest statement, the national student body argued that proceeding with the laws from January 1 sets “a dangerous precedence for a government that claims commitment to participatory reforms and democratic values.”
The group restated ongoing concerns raised by the National Assembly about discrepancies in the gazetted version of the law, as well as reservations from civil society, youth groups, and students calling for suspension until issues of “constitutional integrity, transparency, and comprehensive public education” are addressed.
“The statement released today by the Presidency, reaffirming that implementation will proceed as planned from 1st January, stands as a grave insult to the agency of Nigerians, who are the true sovereigns in a democracy,” NANS declared, adding: “The government must understand that there can be no government without the governed and that while power may reside in offices, the power of the people is always greater than the people in power.”
Oladoja called on all campus chapters, state coordinators, and the national secretariat to mobilize immediately for the January 14 action, with Unity Fountain in Abuja as the convergence point.
The group’s demands are explicit: an immediate suspension of the Tax Reform Law’s implementation and the removal of Adedeji for “gross incompetence, poor performance, and total failure” in handling the reforms.
The Tax Reform Acts, comprising four bills including the Nigeria Tax Act and Nigeria Tax Administration Act, have faced criticism over alleged post-passage alterations and inadequate sensitization, prompting probes in the House of Representatives and calls for suspension from lawmakers, civil society, and now students.
NANS insisted it remains committed to peaceful engagement but vowed to “resist, with collective and lawful action, any attempt to impose policies on Nigerians without transparency, consent, and constitutional compliance.”
- Media Report