Inauguration of Nigeria Revenue Service Headquarters building on Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Execute Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji’s speech

Today marks far more than the commissioning of a building. It marks the culmination of a defining institutional journey, one that has spanned years of vision, persistence, complexity, and ultimately, disciplined delivery. What stands before us is not merely an edifice of steel and structure, but the physical manifestation of a nation choosing order over drift, discipline over fragmentation, and execution over intent. It is the coming to life of a renewed fiscal vision, one that is structured, credible, and built to endure.

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Your Excellency, this moment is inseparable from your leadership and the reform agenda you have courageously advanced. When this administration assumed office, Nigeria faced a critical inflexion point, marked by constrained fiscal space, weakened invest or confidence, and structural distortions across key sectors. What followed was not an incremental adjustment, but a comprehensive reset of the nation’s economic and fiscal architecture.

Through decisive actions, Your Excellency restored macroeconomic credibility, unifying foreign exchange markets, clearing long standing backlogs, and re-establishing confidence in Nigeria’s ability to operate a transparent and market-driven system. These were not easy decisions, but they were necessary decisions, and history will recognise them as such.

Building on this foundation, your administration undertook one of the most significant revenue reforms in Nigeria’s history. Over 60 fragmented tax laws were streamlined into a simplified and more coherent framework, strengthening compliance, improving predictability, and enabling efficiency in administration. Crucially, this reform was not driven by higher tax burdens, but by better systems, broader coverage, and stronger governance. The outcome speaks for itself, with Nigeria recording a historic domestic revenue performance, demonstrating that disciplined reform yields sustainable results.

Beyond taxation, fiscal governance has been strengthened through improved remittance systems, enhanced transparency mechanisms, and tighter controls on public financial flows.

Trade has been modernized through the recently launched National Single Window, reducing inefficiencies and strengthening revenue assurance. In energy reforms, the revolutionary sales of crude in Naira initiative has repositioned the sector from a fiscal burden to a stabilizing anchor for the economy, especially at this crucial time. Across these areas, what we are witnessing is not an isolated change, but a coordinated transformation of the fiscal state. Mr.President, if you will permit me to illustrate in empirical terms the three critical policies that have truly revitalized Nigeria under your leadership.

This is indeed what visionary leadership looks like: the ability to take difficult decisions, align institutions, and translate reform into measurable outcomes that reposition a nation for the future.

Your Excellency, if I may respectfully say, only a leader with clarity of purpose, courage of conviction, and commitment to long-term national interest can drive change at this scale.

This headquarters stands today as one of the tangible expressions of that reform journey, a visible, enduring symbol that reform is not abstract, but real; not temporary, but structural; not theoretical, but implemented.

It is also important to recognise that this achievement has come through a demanding and often complex journey. Tax reform is not always elegant at inception; it is technical, contested, and requires sustained alignment across institutions. It demands discipline, patience, and resilience. Yet, through persistence and clarity of direction, what once appeared difficult has produced something coherent, structured, and of lasting national value. Today, we celebrate this as a success story,a defining milestone in Nigeria’s fiscal transformation.

On a personal note, I stand here deeply grateful to God for the privilege of service, and for the opportunity to witness the completion of a project of this magnitude, His Excellency, Mr President, for the opportunity, my lovely wife, and also my special advisors. Sixteen floors, three towers, and a capacity to accommodate over 3,000 people is no small feat. But beyond its scale, what gives this moment meaning is what it represents: the delivery of an institution that will serve not just this generation, but many to come.

As we commission this headquarters, we must recognise that it is not an endpoint, but a foundation. It’s true value will be measured by the efficiency it enables, the transparency it enforces, the service it improves, and the trust it builds between the Nigerian state and its citizens. It must stand as a centre of excellence, a driver of innovation, and a constant reminder that Nigeria’s institutions can function at the highest standard.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this is a defining moment in Nigeria’s fiscal journey. It affirms that reform is possible, that institutions can be rebuilt, and that with the right leadership and discipline, Nigeria can deliver outcomes that are both credible and transformative.

It is therefore my honour and privilege to welcome you all to the commissioning of the Nigeria Revenue Service Headquarters, a symbol of reform, a monument to institutional renewal, and a beacon of hope for a stronger, more disciplined, and more prosperous Nigeria.

What your taxes do

Redesigning of Terminal 1, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos

This involves a major reconstruction contract approved in 2025. The Federal Airports

Authority of Nigeria oversees the project

Contractor

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

Contract cost

The project cost is N712 billion, funded through Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund as part of a larger N919 billion aviation upgrade. This covers Terminal 1 rehabilitation, Terminal 2 expansion, roads, aprons, and bridges.

Timeline

Construction began in March 2026 and is projected to span 22 months, barring delays, with Terminal 1 fully closed during this period. A temporary 8,000 m² departure hall handles operations in the interim, supporting up to 1,500 peak-hour passengers.

Scope of work

Work strips Terminal 1 to its concrete core for structural reinforcement, then rebuilds with modern systems including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, security, and baggage handling upgrades. It includes internal layout reconfiguration for separated arrival/departure flows, facade upgrades with glass curtain walls, and optimised passenger movement. Terminal 2 expands by 15,000 m² for wide-body aircraft, with elocated hangars.

New facilities

Key additions feature a skywalk linking the multi-level car park to Terminal 2, a connection building unifying T1 and T2, and new ring roads with a bridge for seamless access. Other enhancements include a dedicated transit area, automated e-passport gates, smart HVAC/lighting, upgraded lounges, retail zones with cultural elements, redesigned landscapes, and advanced CCTV/security coverage.

Passenger capacity

17.6 million annually 

Q & A

Will existing audits, rulings, objections, disputes remain valid?

 Yes. All ongoing audits, advance rulings, objections, appeals, and dispute resolution processes continue uninterrupted and are assumed by NRS, pursuant to statutory succession and savings provisions, without restart or revalidation. 

Taxable Line: Taxes are paid in the sweat of every man who labours – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

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