Human rights lawyer Mr. Tilewa Oyefeso has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, challenging what he describes as Nigeria’s “opaque and undisciplined fiscal regime.” The suit targets the operation of overlapping federal budgets and newly enacted tax laws, which Oyefeso claims violate the Constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.

Filed as an Originating Summons under the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, and Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the defendants include the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Oyefeso seeks the court’s determination on whether the Federal Government’s practice of operating multiple budgets concurrently—notably extending the 2024 Appropriation Act’s capital components into 2025 and 2026 while the 2025 budget is simultaneously in effect—complies with the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Nigeria’s unified annual budgeting system.

He contends that such extensions and supplementary budgets undermine fiscal transparency, distort expenditure projections under the MTEF, and erode the predictability and macroeconomic stability that the FRA was designed to ensure. Oyefeso also criticized the government for failing to publish quarterly budget implementation reports within 30 days, a statutory requirement under Section 30 of the FRA.

Beyond budgetary concerns, the suit challenges four recently enacted tax laws effective January 1, 2026:

1. Nigeria Tax Act 2025
2. Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2025
3. Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act 2025
4. Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025

According to Oyefeso, these reforms prioritize revenue generation at the expense of compliance with constitutional and FRA constraints on borrowing, deficit limits, and fiscal accountability. He cited Section 16 of the Constitution, which mandates equitable wealth distribution, macroeconomic stability, and citizen welfare, as the guiding principle for fiscal and tax policy.

The reliefs sought include:

• Declaring the four new tax laws unconstitutional, null, and void.
• Issuing an order of mandamus compelling the National Assembly to amend the FRA to align with principles of transparency, fiscal prudence, and macroeconomic stability.
• Granting a perpetual injunction restraining the implementation of the new tax laws until such amendment.

Defendants have 30 days from the date of service to respond. The case is yet to be assigned to a judge.