STOP COMPLAINING, START TALKING! Oshiomhole Tells Labor Unions to Drag Government to the Table Over New Tax Laws Before Workers Get Burned

Former labor leader turned Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has sent a blunt message to his “comrades” in organized labor: if you don’t speak up now about the new tax laws, don’t cry later when they hit workers’ pockets.

Speaking at a legislative forum, Oshiomhole told the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) that it is time to stop the “wait-and-see” game. He insisted that the new 2025 Tax Reform Acts are too important to be left to politicians and tax experts alone.

“Labor must be proactive,” Oshiomhole said. “You don’t wait for the implementation to fail before you start a strike. Go and meet the government now. Look at the fine print of these tax laws. Ask the hard questions: How does this help the man on minimum wage? How does the VAT exemption on food actually reach the market?”

The Senator, who led some of Nigeria’s biggest strikes in the past, noted that while the government claims to be “taxing the rich,” the devil is often in the details. He urged labor leaders to hire their own tax consultants to analyze the 2026 fiscal policies so they can negotiate from a position of knowledge rather than just anger.

His advice comes at a tense time. With the federal government aiming to fund a record-breaking budget through non-oil revenue, many workers are worried that “tax reform” is just another word for “more deductions.”

Oshiomhole’s message is clear: the seat at the table is open, but labor must be willing to sit down and do the math. By engaging now, he believes the unions can ensure that the promised “Renewed Hope” doesn’t turn into a “Renewed Tax Burden” for the Nigerian worker.