President Bola Tinubu has permanently abolished the controversial 5% excise tax on telecommunications services, a measure aimed at easing financial pressures on consumers and businesses in Nigeria's digital economy.

The Executive Vice President of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, has confirmed that President Bola Tinubu has removed 5% excise duties on telecommunications services in the new tax laws, a measure that should ease pressure on subscriber costs.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Maida explained that the tax, which was originally suspended, has now been completely removed.

“Excise duties, which were around 5%, no longer exist,” he said. “Previously, they were suspended, but the president has now shown magnanimity by removing them completely. I was there when the question was raised, and he said, “No, no, no, you can't impose that on Nigerians. ” I was very happy when the bills were published and we saw that his words had been respected.

The 5% excise duty is part of a larger tax reform initiative as part of a bill entitled “A bill to repeal certain tax laws and to strengthen legal frameworks relating to taxation and to enact the Nigerian tax law to provide for the taxation of income, transactions and instruments, and related issues.”

The proposed tax has faced strong opposition since it was introduced in 2022 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.