The Abia State Shippers Association has urged members to ensure that they apply every necessary piece of knowledge gathered from the one-day seminar held to educate them on the new tax policy reforms.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu signed into law tax policy reforms on 26 June 2025, a move some experts said streamlined revenue administration, enhancing compliance, strengthening intergovernmental coordination, and repositioning the tax system to support inclusive growth.
However, despite the position of the government on the benefits of the tax policy reforms, the shippers’ association of Abia State insisted their members have to know more about the policy.
Speaking to newsmen, Chief Olo Onuma, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Abia Shippers Association, said that before the tax policy reforms, they never had any reason to worry whatsoever.
“But because of this new tax law, the management of the Abia State Shippers Association thought it wise to hold this seminar so that members and the public should know the implications of these new laws,” Onuma said.
Throwing more lights on the seminar, Onuma said that the objective to inform members on the tax policy reforms follows the provision of the Abia Shippers Association constitution to help members, hence the seminar.
He expressed gratitude to the resource persons, stressing that the association is very grateful to all of them who contributed to teaching the members on the way forward.
Sir Emenike Ubani, Assistant General Secretary of the Abia Shippers Association, said that the seminar was long overdue to educate their members on the need for them to understand and adjust their operations to the government’s new tax reform policy.
He warned that when the effect of the tax policy reforms starts showing, businesses will suffer, as “the cost of everything will be very high, inflation will skyrocket, everything will be high, and it will affect businesses.”
Tax controller of the emerging tax office of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) in Aba, Nicholas Okolo, while answering questions on what the shippers should know so as not to fall victim to the reforms, said that they need to register, get their taxpayer identification number, and file their tax as and when due for VAT.
According to Okolo, “It’s always on or before 21 of the month succeeding the month the transaction took place. For company income tax, once you register or incorporate, on or before 18 months after registration or commencement, you’re supposed to file your annual income tax. Those are the main things, and keep your records very well.”
He said that the fears some business people are expressing about the tax reforms are completely unnecessary, as it was not done to malign anybody.
Okolo stressed that those panicking should stop because they’re reacting as a result of the misconception, as “there are a lot of rumours, and we see a lot of people who don’t know anything about tax making comments about it.”
“I advise everybody to go to the Nigeria Revenue Service website and learn more; it’s left for everybody to study and understand what’s happening.”
