President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr. John Nwabueze as Nigeria’s first Tax Ombudsman, marking a major milestone in the Federal Government’s drive to reform the country’s tax and revenue administration framework.
The appointment, made pursuant to the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025, is part of the administration’s broader efforts to improve transparency, fairness, and taxpayer confidence in the nation’s tax ecosystem.
Dr. Nwabueze, from Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State, brings decades of expertise from both the public and private sectors. Before his new role, he served as Managing Partner of a leading tax advisory firm, Technical Adviser to the Joint Senate Committees on the Federal Capital Territory and Finance, and Technical Adviser to the Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He is widely regarded as a seasoned financial and tax policy professional.
A distinguished academic, Nwabueze holds a Doctor of Business Administration (Finance) from Walden University, Minneapolis, a Master’s degree in Accounting from Strayer University, Washington, D.C., and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and Mathematics from the University of Jos.
President Tinubu congratulated Dr. Nwabueze, expressing confidence in his capacity to lead with “integrity, diligence, and utmost professionalism,” while driving a transparent and efficient tax dispute-resolution mechanism.
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The Tax Ombudsman’s Office, newly established under the Act, is designed to provide taxpayers with a structured channel for fair adjudication of complaints involving taxes, levies, customs duties, excise issues, and related regulatory charges. It will serve as a watchdog against arbitrary or abusive actions by tax and revenue authorities and promote non-adversarial resolution of disputes.
With the new appointment, analysts say the administration is signaling its intent to balance revenue mobilization with taxpayer protection, ensuring fairness in Nigeria’s tax environment as economic reforms continue.
The Office is expected to begin formal operations in the coming weeks, with a mandate to strengthen accountability, deepen public trust in tax institutions, and support the government’s renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility and transparency.