*Labour leaders say laws economic warfare on workers
By Victor Ahiuma-Young
Anger is spreading rapidly across Nigeria as workers reel from the impact of the newly implemented tax laws, which have drastically reduced take-home pay at a time of surging inflation and unbearable living costs. From ministries to factories and offices, January pay slips have become a symbol of hardship, anxiety, and deepening poverty for workers who depend solely on their wages to survive.
Workers who have received their January salaries say the new tax deductions have slashed their earnings without warning or relief.
For many households, the cuts have pushed already fragile finances to the brink.
Food prices continue to soar, transportation costs have risen sharply, rents have spiked in major cities, and basic utilities are becoming increasingly unaffordable. The combined effect, workers say, is nothing short of economic suffocation.
Labour leaders have described the new tax regime as “economic warfare on Nigerian workers,” insisting that the laws were crafted without regard for the harsh socio-economic realities facing the working class.
According to organised labour, workers were deliberately excluded from the Presidential Committee on Taxation, despite being the largest and most consistent taxpayers in the country.
“The laws were designed without us, yet we are the ones paying the price,” labour leaders argue.
They accuse policymakers of transplanting tax models from foreign countries where citizens enjoy strong social safety nets—functional healthcare systems, subsidised transportation, affordable housing, and unemployment benefits—conditions that do not exist in Nigeria.
At the National Assembly public hearing on the tax bills, organised labour recalls it clearly warned lawmakers of the consequences of imposing additional tax burdens on workers whose wages have been devalued amid runaway inflation.
Those warnings, according to labour leaders, were ignored, and the laws were hurriedly passed and implemented.
Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, President, Joe Ajaero, was unequivocal in his condemnation of the process and outcome. Addressing lawmakers during the public hearing, Ajaero warned that the tax laws would worsen poverty and inequality if allowed to stand.”The tax laws went through a process that clearly excluded Nigerian workers and the masses, who are the major taxpayers in this country. From the onset, we knew that workers were going to be on the menu, and we alerted the nation.”
He further argued that taxing low-income earners in a country grappling with mass poverty is not reform but regression.
“Any tax system that taxes the national minimum wage and places heavier burdens on people already living in excruciating poverty is regressive and unjust,” the NLC President stated.
Despite these warnings, the laws were imposed, and their consequences are now playing out across the country.
Reports of workplace agitation, protests, and growing resentment are emerging as workers express outrage over what they describe as unjust deductions.
In some sectors, morale has plummeted as workers struggle to cope with shrinking incomes and mounting debts.
An official of NLC who spoke to Vanguard warn that the implications go beyond individual hardship.
According to him: “We are already receiving complaints that workers who have received their January salaries are raising concerns over the significant reduction in their take-home pay following the implementation of the new tax laws. They are complaining that it will negatively affect their ability to meet essential obligations to their families and dependants.
“When workers are pushed deeper into poverty, productivity inevitably declines. A workforce burdened by hunger, debt, indecent accommodation and insecurity cannot perform optimally. As productivity falls, businesses suffer, public services weaken, and the economy absorbs another shock.”
The official also berated claims by officials associated with the tax reforms—particularly assertions by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele —that the new laws do not negatively affect workers’ wages.
He insists that “these claims are disconnected from reality. Many public sector workers are yet to receive their January salaries, making official assessments of the tax laws premature and misleading. The reality is on the streets and in workers’ homes. It is not in policy documents or statistics.”
For organised labour, the situation represents a dangerous tipping point. With inflation rising and wages effectively shrinking, more Nigerians are being pushed below the poverty line.
Labour warns that unless the tax laws are urgently reviewed and workers meaningfully engaged, social unrest is inevitable.
The NLC official warns: “The message from workers is growing louder and angrier: a tax system that impoverishes those who produce the nation’s wealth is unsustainable.
“As anger spreads and hardship deepens, labour leaders insist that Nigeria must choose between policies that protect workers—or face the economic and social consequences of taxing its workforce into destitution.”
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