Tax laws: Don’t agonise Nigerian workers, NLC tells FG

…Gives FG ultimatum to review workers’ wages before 2027

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has accused the Federal Government of deliberately excluding Nigerian workers from the formulation and implementation of the new tax laws, warning that policies crafted without labour’s input were inflicting hardship and deepening poverty.

Ajaero faulted what he described as the government’s contradiction of shutting out workers from meaningful engagement on tax reforms, only to later accuse them of “agonising” over national economic policies they neither designed nor influenced.

He made the remarks yesterday in Abuja at the 85th birthday celebration and public presentation of the memoir of a former President of the NLC, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, titled ‘Organise, Don’t Agonise’.

Speaking in line with the central philosophy of the book, Ajaero said sidelining the organised voice of labour amounted to designing policies on “shaky and exclusionary foundations,” inevitably leading to social crisis and economic agony, as currently being experienced across the country.

According to him, organised labour had repeatedly drawn the government’s attention to fundamental shortcomings in the new tax laws but was ignored, noting that any tax regime that imposed heavier burdens on workers and the poor could not be described as progressive.

He stressed that if the government was determined to proceed with the implementation of the new tax laws, it must equally demonstrate readiness to improve workers’ welfare, particularly through an upward review of wages ahead of the next statutory National Minimum Wage negotiations scheduled for 2027.

“It is from this standpoint that we must speak directly to the Nigerian Government,” Ajaero said.

“The philosophy of Organise, Don’t Agonise also implies that the state has a duty to engage, not enrage. There is an urgent need for deeper, more sincere, and structured engagement with the trade union movement at all levels.”

He insisted that policies ranging from fuel pricing to taxation, wages and social services must be developed with the active and respected participation of those who represent workers and the broader masses.

“Policies, from fuel pricing to taxation, from wages to social services, must be crafted with the active, respected input of those who represent the workers and the broader masses,” he said.

“To sideline the organised voice of labour is to design policies on shaky, exclusionary foundations, destined to generate crisis and agony as is being witnessed currently.”

Ajaero described the new tax laws as a “poignant example” of the failure of government to engage stakeholders and adhere to due process, alleging that Nigerian workers and the masses, who constitute the largest group of taxpayers, were deliberately excluded from the Presidential Committee on Tax.

“From the Presidential Committee on Tax, which Nigerian workers were deliberately excluded from, we knew that the workers and masses were going to be on the menu,” he said. “We said so and alerted the nation. Even during the legislative processes, we warned of the dangers, but no one listened.”

According to him, the outcome of that exclusion was now evident in laws that made workers and the poor worse off.

“Today, the result is clear; laws with serious alterations directed at making workers and the poor poorer have become the outcome,” Ajaero said.

“A tax law that imposes heavy burdens on workers and the poor is not progressive. A tax law that taxes the national minimum wage is not fair. Taxing the masses who are living in excruciating poverty is regressive.”

He maintained that organised labour saw nothing wrong in suspending the current approach to the tax reforms to allow for proper reconsideration and redirection.

Ajaero also used the platform to demand the immediate and full constitution of the board of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), while calling for clarity and restraint in the implementation of the tax laws.

“We demand, as Comrade Sunmonu would have, that the Federal Government immediately and fully constitute the PENCOM Board and address the concerns of Nigerians regarding the tax law, instead of the present grandstanding,” he said.

“Insisting on going ahead is akin to muddling along in confusion and darkness, since we do not even know which version of the law is truly operational.”

He warned that persisting on the current path posed serious risks to tax administration and Nigeria’s democratic stability.

“This dangerous pattern seriously undermines the tax administration itself and indeed our democracy,” he said.

Concluding, the NLC president called on the Federal Government to draw lessons from Sunmonu’s legacy by shifting from policies that inflict hardship to inclusive governance that prioritises economic justice.

“Let this celebration of a life spent organising inspire a new chapter,” Ajaero said.

“Let the government move from agonising the people to organising with them. Let us build a democracy that delivers not just political freedom but economic liberation, where the wealth of the nation serves the welfare of its people.

“It is on this note that we once again call on the Federal Government to urgently address the wages of Nigerian workers before the next statutory negotiation of the National Minimum Wage.”