TaxOmbud has continued to emphasise that the Office is not created to stop the government from collecting taxes or revenue; rather, to ensure that revenue collection is fair, transparent, and grounded in due process.
“This is crucial because a just tax system is the bedrock of a modern economy, and voluntary tax compliance grows only where there is institutional trust,” said John Nwabueze, TaxOmbud/chief executive, Office of The Tax Ombud.
He further emphasised that the Office of the Tax Ombud is an independent, impartial referee established to mediate and resolve tax and revenue disputes, investigate administrative injustices, and protect the fundamental rights of taxpayers as they comply with their responsibility to pay tax.
“Our doors are open, our digital portals are active, and our commitment to a just, responsive tax administration devoid of friction and conflict, remains absolute,” Nwabueze said on Friday at the third-quarter (Q3) breakfast meeting with business editors.
Before now, businesses—from small-scale enterprises (SMEs) to major multinationals—have often felt voiceless when confronted with arbitrary assessments, administrative delays, or the heavy burden of multiple taxation.
On the other hand, tax and revenue authorities remained resolute in getting the businesses to remain alive to their responsibilities for the overall development of the country.
Quite often, litigation had traditionally been the primary recourse, but court processes are long, expensive, and frequently drain the very operational capital that businesses need to survive and grow.
This situation had inescapably resulted in low voluntary compliance and to avoidable conflicts between tax payers and tax and revenue authorities in the country.
Thus, the creation of the Office of the Tax Ombud under the new fiscal reform framework is indeed a critical intervention that changes the narrative in Nigeria’s tax system.
Nwabueze who reaffirmed and reassured tax payers of the determination to achieving the mandate of the Office also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “for his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to reforming Nigeria’s tax system for fairness, inclusiveness and sustainability”.
He also lauded the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy, Taiwo Oyedele, “for his leadership in the reform process and for advancing the Renewed Hope Agenda across every sector.”
According to him, “To make our services frictionless, we have operationalised our digital infrastructure. Taxpayers can now access our website and utilise our official online case management portal; they can reach out through our dedicated toll free call center, and track their grievances in real time. We have therefore, removed the red tape so that relief is only a click or a phone call away.”
He said that the response of Nigerians to this development has been encouraging; “though quite unfortunately, many of the inquiries that we have so far received, often fall outside the mandate of the Office as enshrined in the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act 2025.”
“However, we have so far received a total of 20 genuine cases (12 received via webportal case management system, 2 via email, one via call centre and 5 were submitted physically). 8 cases have been resolved while 12 are still undergoing investigations.
“To ensure greater public awareness of the mandate and jurisdiction of the Office of The Tax Ombud, we are currently carrying out robust stakeholder engagements and public enlightenment programmes across the country”, he noted.
This, he said is to ensure that the Nigerian tax payer as well as tax and revenue authorities “are not only well educated and enlightened as to the role and specific mandate of the Office of the Tax Ombud in their daily activities but to take full advantage thereof in order to entrench a tax ecosystem that is anchored on equity, partnership, and shared prosperity”.
