The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is urging the federal and subnational governments to introduce specific safeguards for manufacturers in the 2025 Tax Law to prevent higher compliance costs and multiple levies on factories.
In his keynote address at the 55th Annual General Meeting of MAN’s Apapa Branch on Thursday, Francis Meshioye, MAN president, said manufacturers support tax harmonization but need protections to ensure that the new tax reform strengthens competitiveness rather than adds pressure on businesses already operating in a difficult environment.
“While the law seeks to harmonize, digitize, and reduce friction, for it to work for manufacturers, especially those in trade corridors like Apapa, we need deliberate safeguards,” Meshioye said.
“The test must be factories opened and jobs created,” he added. He outlined four safeguards that must anchor the rollout to make the 2025 tax law work for manufacturers.
First, “harmonization with teeth”: Lagos should be the first state to publish a tax code aligned with the new law, with one entity to assess and a portal to pay. MAN said this would cut compliance costs significantly for members moving goods across local governments.
Second, “cluster protection.” Meshioye urged the state to declare Apapa, Amuwo-Odofin and Kirikiri a “No-Tout Zone” with state-backed enforcement against illegal levies on port access roads. “Legitimate revenue must not be crowded out by illegitimate collection,” he said.
Third, a “port-manufacturing link.” MAN asked the Lagos government to work with the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Shippers Council to create a single bill of port-related charges. “A manufacturer should not pay multiple charges to move one container,” Meshioye said.
Fourth, “data for fairness.” He said LIRS and the Joint Tax Board should use data from MAN to identify real taxpayers. That, he argued, would expand the tax net without subjecting existing businesses to repeated audits.
“We are not asking for tax holidays,” Meshioye said. “We are asking that the tax we pay translates to motorable roads, working drainage, and security in our clusters. That is the social contract.”
The MAN president also said that states must not use the new law to create new taxes, but to consolidate and simplify.
At the national level, MAN opposed any retroactive application of the 2025 Tax Law to 2024 profits and urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to clear outstanding FX forward obligations.
In his welcome address, Raphael Daniola, chairman of MAN Apapa Branch, said the theme of the AGM, ‘Multiple Taxation and Levies Harmonization with Sub-Nationals: What are the Safeguards for Nigerian Manufacturers in the New Tax Law?’ – speaks directly to a long-standing challenge.
“Our concern is simple. How do we ensure that tax reform strengthens manufacturing competitiveness rather than add another layer of pressure on businesses already operating in a challenging environment?” he asked.
The branch chairman listed eight urgent requests to Lagos State, including fast-tracking rehabilitation of drainage and roads in Amuwo-Odofin, routine visits by the governor and commissioners to industrial clusters, and curbing activities of non-state actors.
He also asked for a policy allowing manufacturers to invest in public infrastructure in exchange for tax rebates, direct access for MAN leadership to the governor, review of laws of state establishments with duplicated mandates, harmonization of federal and state environmental laws, and implementation of the Nigeria First procurement policy at state and local levels.
“If manufacturing shrinks, Lagos shrinks,” Daniola said. “Lagos State must act decisively not only to retain existing manufacturers but also to make its industrial clusters places where businesses can invest, produce, compete and grow,” he noted.
He added that MAN remains ready to dialogue and collaborate with government, while urging members to embrace prudence, innovation and cost control to weather current economic headwinds.
On the branch’s 55th AGM, he said Apapa Branch marked 55 years with a call for stronger government-industry partnership to protect jobs and investment in Nigeria’s largest industrial corridor.
Speaking as guest speaker, Olusegun Adesokan, executive secretary, Joint Revenue Board, said tax reform “should never be measured simply by how much government can collect.”
According to him, its greater test is whether it creates an environment in which businesses can invest with confidence, industries can expand, jobs can be created and communities can prosper.
Citing MAN data, Adesokan noted that under the old system, Nigeria had over 100 taxes and levies, firms spent 18 working days a month on compliance, 84 percent of firms paid multiple state and LGA levies, and 72 percent of manufacturers cited tax complexity as a major constraint on production.
He said the new law consolidates fragmented federal tax statutes into one coherent code and introduces uniform procedures for registration, filing, audit and refunds.
At the subnational level, over 100 taxes and levies have been harmonized into nine revenue heads with a single Taxpayer ID, he said, noting that the law also abolishes roadblocks for tax collection, bans cash payments and stickers, and mandates digital payments with proper receipts.
“Associations, unions or other bodies cannot collect taxes on behalf of government,” he said, adding that the framework protects taxpayers from double payment and provides a mechanism to recover money wrongly or excessively paid.
He outlined six takeaways for businesses: one collection channel, one taxpayer identity, clearer avenues for dispute resolution, lower compliance cost, and elimination of extortion on the roads.
For manufacturers to benefit, Adesokan urged firms to hold a valid Tax ID, maintain accurate records, file returns on time, pay disputed assessments while lodging objections, comply with the harmonized tax and levy laws, and use official payment channels instead of cash transactions.
“The new tax law reframes the Nigerian manufacturer from an endless tax target to a protected taxpayer,” he said.
“The source of tax reform will ultimately be measured not by the tax we impose, but by the businesses we can grow, the jobs we can create and the prosperity we can share.”
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