ABUJA – At least 38 million Nigerian adults who remain unbanked may be excluded from the financial system when the new tax reform laws take effect in January 2026, unless the Federal Government harmonises its multiple identity databases, a financial expert has warned.
Economist and Data Analyst, Mr. Daramola Omoyele, raised the concern in Abuja on Sunday while reacting to the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025.
The new law makes it compulsory for every taxable Nigerian to obtain a Tax Identification Number (TIN) before operating or opening a bank account.
President Bola Tinubu had on June 26 signed four tax reform bills into law.
These are the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. All are scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026.
Omoyele, a Chartered Accountant with a Master’s degree in Economics and Data Analytics, said he understood the motive behind the reform, which is to expand Nigeria’s tax base and strengthen compliance.
He noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-Gross Domestic Product ratio is one of the lowest in Africa, making non-oil revenue collection a national priority.
However, he warned that while the policy is well-intentioned, the introduction of another identification number risks worsening an already messy identification system.
According to him, the TIN requirement could become a fresh barrier to banking access for millions who are still outside the financial system.
He pointed out that Nigerians are already burdened with several identity numbers, including the National Identity Number (NIN), Bank Verification Number (BVN), voter’s card, driver’s licence, passport number, account numbers, and SIM registration details.
Rather than consolidating these into a unified system, he said, government agencies keep building new silos that increase confusion and costs.
“The irony is that Nigeria already has the building blocks of a single digital identity.
“The NIN was designed to be the master ID, while the BVN has captured biometric and financial data for millions of bank customers.
“Instead of harmonising these, the new TIN law introduces another obstacle at a time when about 38 million adults remain unbanked,” he said.
Omoyele argued that other countries have shown that harmonization works.
He cited India’s Aadhaar number, which is used for taxation, banking, telecoms and social benefits; South Africa’s national identity card, which functions seamlessly across voting, banking and taxation; and the United Kingdom’s National Insurance Number, which doubles for tax and employment.
He said Nigeria should do the same by making the NIN the universal identity number, with BVN, TIN and other records linked to it at the backend.
He cautioned that without harmonization, Nigeria risks excluding more citizens from banking and financial services, while inconsistencies will persist across multiple databases.
He added that the government would continue to waste billions of naira maintaining overlapping systems that serve similar purposes.
Beyond the technical costs, Omoyele stressed that citizens already fatigued by endless registration exercises may lose faith in government initiatives altogether.
“Nigeria must stop building silos and start building systems that talk to each other. One number is enough,” he said.
He maintained that if the NIN becomes the central identity, linked seamlessly with tax, banking, telecoms and other services, citizens will enjoy simpler, cheaper and more reliable access to government programmes.
“The new TIN law is well-intentioned, but it risks worsening an already messy identification system.
“Nigeria should prioritise data harmonisation over multiplication. As a nation, we don’t need five or six different numbers to prove who we are. We need just one and we already have it in the NIN,” he added.
