The Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organization (GAFAMORG) has rejected the proposed tax reform bill by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, describing it as a policy driven by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank aimed at increasing poverty and exploiting Nigerians.
In a statement signed by Chairman Babatunde Agunbiade and Public Relations Officer Adeoye Ade-Adewumi, the group said the country’s economic crisis stems not from inadequate taxation but from corruption, mismanagement, nepotism, and elite capture of the state.
GAFAMORG criticized the government for targeting workers, small businesses, and households while granting tax waivers and exemptions to wealthy individuals and multinational corporations. The group also condemned Free Trade Zones, calling them “tax sanctuaries for the rich,” and highlighted persistent issues in the tax administration system, including overlapping taxes, harassment by revenue agents, and lack of transparency.
The organization argued that Nigeria’s experience with past IMF- and World Bank-inspired reforms, such as Structural Adjustment, privatization, and subsidy removal, had failed to reduce poverty or improve public services, instead enriching a small elite while weakening the middle class and the country’s productive capacity.
GAFAMORG warned that agents of the ruling class embedded in media, policy circles, and civil society were framing exploitation as reform and urged Nigerians to resist the bill. “Those who support or defend this unjust tax law are standing against the Nigerian people,” the statement said.
Invoking the legacy of late human rights lawyer Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the group called for civic, legal, and popular resistance to the tax reform and demanded its immediate withdrawal, insisting that Nigeria requires justice, accountability, equity, and people-centered governance rather than IMF-approved hardship.
