Dr. Orji urged Nigeria to reform tax policies to drive energy transition, warning that fossil fuel bias could derail clean energy goals.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, has called for urgent reforms in Nigeria’s tax policies to support the country’s energy transition agenda.
Speaking at the second edition of the Rembinar Dialogue Series, held on Monday, 28th April 2025, Dr. Orji described the dialogue on “Tax Bills and Implications for Energy Transition” as both timely and critical, particularly as Nigeria seeks to move from a fossil fuel-dependent economy to one anchored on renewable energy.
According to Dr. Orji, the success of Nigeria’s energy transition plan, especially in scaling renewable energy, promoting green finance, and instituting carbon pricing will depend largely on the design and effective implementation of fiscal policies.
While recent fiscal reforms, including the Finance Acts and recommendations from the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, are steps in the right direction, he warned that they must be critically examined to determine whether they truly support the country’s clean energy ambitions.
The Rembinar Series
The Rembinar Series is a collaborative initiative between NEITI and OrderPaper Nigeria aimed at fostering deeper engagement on issues of resource governance, fiscal transparency, and accountability in the extractive sector.
The first Rembinar, titled, “Tax Bills and Implications for NEITI Audits,” held in March 2025, delved into the tax implications for NEITI’s audit work. It drew over 100 participants and featured insights from Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji (Executive Secretary, NEITI), Mallam Haruna Yahaya (member, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy), and Dr. Mike Uzoigwe (natural resource governance expert and former EITI country manager), among others. That successful dialogue set the tone for the conversations to follow.
The second edition shifted focus toward an even more urgent question: how Nigeria’s fiscal policies, particularly the evolving tax bills, can either accelerate or hinder clean energy transitions. The session examined the alignment (or lack thereof) between tax policy and the country’s net-zero ambitions.
For this second edition, the dialogue drew participation from a broad panel of experts, including:
•Rep. Terseer Ugbor, Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Environment;
•Dr. Dieter Ahmed Bassi, Director, Policy, Planning and Strategy (PPS), NEITI;
•Olumide Idowu, Founder and Executive Director, International Climate Change Development Initiative (ICCDI) Africa;
•Dr. Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe, Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), represented by Awele Ikobi-Anyali, Head of Legal Department. The session was moderated by Mr. Oke Epia, Founder/CEO of OrderPaper Nigeria.
