Telecommunications subscribers in the country could soon be paying 5 percent more for data and voice services if President Bola Tinubu signs  Nigeria Tax Bill 2024 into law.

Passed in the Senate on May 8, 2025, the bill reintroduces a controversial 5 percent excise tax on telecom services, a move telecom operators, subscribers and consumer rights groups have strongly opposed.

The bill revived the excise tax first introduced in the Finance Act of 2020 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had suspended the tax in July 2023, citing concerns that it could exacerbate inflation and hinder access to digital services, especially for low-income Nigerians.

The 2020 Finance Act had expanded the list of goods and services subject to excise duty, including telecom services.

However, the measure drew immediate and widespread criticism from telecom operators and consumer advocacy groups, who argued that the additional cost would burden citizens and increase the price of essential services in an already fragile economy.

Excise duty is a tax on certain goods produced or sold within a country and other activities as may be specified in the enabling law, including services.

As contained in the 2022 Finance Act, the tax is chargeable on all services regulated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (“NCC”) listed as postpaid and prepaid services at the rate of 5% for 2022, 2023 & 2024.

According to a report by PWC at the time, prior to the suspension of excise duty on certain goods in 2009, excise duty was applicable on recharge cards/vouchers.

The telecommunication companies are to pay the tax based on the excisable value of postpaid and prepaid services.

In July 2023, President Tinubu signed an Executive Order suspending the “5% Excise Tax on telecommunication services as well as the Excise Duties escalation on locally manufactured products.”

The World Bank has faulted the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme, stating that the initiative failed to reach millions of Nigerians in need of urgent economic relief, as only 37 per cent of the targeted households had so far benefited from the scheme.

It said the scheme launched in 2023 after the abrupt removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market by the current administration, only reached 5.6 million households out of the planned 15 million, two years after the launch.

The global lender disclosed this in its latest Nigeria Development Update report titled “Building Momentum for Inclusive Growth”, released in Abuja.

The World Bank had approved a loan of $800m for the programme.

According to the report, a combination of surging inflation and sluggish economic growth has pushed an additional 40 million Nigerians into poverty since 2019, raising the poverty headcount to 46 per cent of the population.

“Successive years of rising inflation and sluggish growth have increased poverty and hardship levels. Since 2018/19, an additional 40 million people fell into poverty, and nearly half of all Nigerians (46 per cent) are estimated to have been living in poverty in 2024.

“Labour incomes have not kept up with inflation, depleting the purchasing power of Nigerians. Poverty has deepened and broadened, especially among urban Nigerians,” the report stated.

In response to the deepening hardship, the Federal Government had launched a temporary cash transfer programme aimed at supporting 15 million vulnerable households.

But the World Bank said the roll-out has been slow and inadequate. It stressed that efforts to urgently provide support to the poorest and most economically at-risk households should be redoubled and expanded.

“Only 5.6 million households—around 37 per cent—have received at least one tranche of direct transfers. Further expansion of the programme remains dependent on biometrically verifying at least one adult member of the household with a foundational digital identity. Also, efforts to urgently provide support to the poorest and most economically at-risk households should be redoubled and expanded,” the bank noted.

It warned that unless urgent efforts are made to scale up support, millions of poor and economically insecure Nigerians risk being left behind amid rising living costs and eroding incomes.

The bank advised the Federal Government to urgently improve its social protection framework, accelerate cash transfer distribution, and reallocate a portion of its recent revenue gains to targeted social programmes.

The report added, “Alongside macroeconomic reforms and emergency cash support, stronger growth and a robust social protection framework are essential to promote productive livelihoods.

“Leveraging early dividends from macroeconomic reforms, Nigeria’s social protection system should be structurally strengthened, with a focus on providing the foundation for human capital investments, promoting economic inclusion, building resilience, and breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty.

“This needs to be complemented by growth-oriented reforms and higher, more efficient investments in public services, especially in health, education, and infrastructure.

“With more than half of the population below the poverty line, poor and economically insecure households need assistance to regain economic agency and cope with shocks.”

It recommended the creation of up-to-date social registries with verified digital identities as the foundation for targeting pro-poor initiatives. Beyond emergency interventions, the Bank stressed the need for structural reforms and investments in public services to ensure long-term poverty reduction.

“Leveraging early dividends from macroeconomic reforms, Nigeria’s social protection system should be structurally strengthened with a focus on promoting economic inclusion, building resilience, and breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty,” it said.

The report also called for increased and more efficient investments in critical sectors such as health, education, and infrastructure, to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged Nigerians to shun Ponzi schemes as many of such schemes have destroyed lives, eroded trust and undermined national development.

Aisha Abubakar, acting zonal director, Enugu Zonal Directorate and assistant commander of the EFCC, gave this charge  during the 2025 Annual Management Retreat of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps which was held at Jubilee Hall, Holy-ghost Cathedral, Ogbete, Enugu State.

Speaking on the topic, “Get-Rich-Quick Syndrome and the Youth Vulnerability: The Case Study of Ponzi scheme-The Role of Law Enforcement in Prevention and Disruption”, Abubakar said that the get-rich-quick syndrome has become a serious economic and security threat in Nigeria, with the youths bearing the brunt.

She said that the get-rich-quick syndrome is a mindset characterized by the desire to attain wealth without legitimate, gradual effort, adding that the craving is often fueled by social media portrayals of instant riches and social pressure.

“In Nigeria today, the aspiration for wealth has grown increasingly urgent among the youth, leading to vulnerability to financial frauds such as Ponzi schemes. They often fall victim to enticing schemes that offer double returns within short timeframes, despite the absence of legitimate business operations. The desperation to escape poverty and fund small projects pushes many into high-risk unregulated investments”, she said.

While citing the causes of get-rich-quick syndromes among the youths, Abubakar said that greed, financial illiteracy, peer pressure, social pressure, digital and technological exposure, drugs, disappearance of cherished family and societal values, extravagant lifestyle, depression, unproductive lodging in hotels, impatience, frustration with traditional systems and psychological factors are some of the things that cause many to fall prey to schemes “even when they suspect it’s too good to be true”.

“Notable examples in Nigeria include, MMM Nigeria, MBA Forex, Chinmark Group and CBEX. In April 2025, Nigeria witnessed one of its most devastating financial scams with the collapse of CBEX, a digital asset trading platform that operated as a Ponzi scheme. It promised investors a 100% return on investment within 30 days, leveraging on the allure of cryptocurrency trading and artificial intelligence-driven strategies”, she said.

Abubakar listed types of get-rich-quick syndromes which include advance fee fraud, fake jobs and scholarship schemes, online loan and grant scams, fake forex and crypto currency platforms, amongst others.

She said that cybercrimes, which she identified as an activity of get-rich-quick syndrome, have adverse effects on the country’s economy. She lamented that cybercrime has earned the nation a bad reputation in the global world, thereby reducing foreign investments in Nigeria, which has affected in totality, the growth of our economy.

She said that the reputational damage affects even individuals in Nigeria, as the global world has no confidence in Nigerians, within and outside the borders of the country.

“Cybercrime has created a market system where fraudsters obtain competitive advantage and drive out legitimate business. A lot of funds are lost to internet fraud, some of which are eventually used to fund organized crime groups and terrorism, potentially leading to further crime and terrorist attacks. I am sure you will agree with me that it has also undermined national defence and security in Nigeria and this has contributed to negative output in the economy”, she said.

She thereafter discussed the roles the Commission has played in the prevention and disruption of these schemes.

“Through roadshows, social media campaigns and partnerships with youth-focused institutions, the EFCC has raised awareness of fraudulent investment scheme. We partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Security and Exchange Commission, Banks and global bodies like the INTERPOL to trace funds, monitor financial flows and disrupt scam networks”, she said.