It sends a chilling message to corporate donors: contribute to the reelection machinery, or risk hostile tax scrutiny.
By Hon. Kenneth Gbandi
LONDON: From the vantage point of the European diaspora, watching Nigerian governance often feels like observing a masterclass in institutional subversion. But even by the relaxed ethics of Abuja’s ruling class, the appointment of Dr. Zacch Adedeji the sitting Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) as Deputy Director of Fundraising for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election effort sets a perilous new precedent.
To those of us who have spent decades advocating for state building, rule of law, and institutional reform from abroad, this is not a minor political oversight; it is an outright constitutional conflict of interest that threatens the fundamental credibility of the Nigerian state.
At its core, the social contract rests on a simple premise: citizens pay taxes to a neutral state, which in turn delivers public goods without fear or favour. The moment you place the nation’s chief tax collector in charge of filling a ruling party’s campaign coffers, that neutrality evaporates.
The constitutional arguments are impossible to ignore. Section 172 and the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria explicitly bar public officers from placing themselves in positions where their personal or political interests conflict with their official duties. Furthermore, public service rules have long maintained a wall between partisan campaign operations and the administrative civil service. Fusing tax administration with political fundraising breaches these safeguards in spirit and in law.
Consider the operational reality this creates for Nigerian commerce. How can a corporate entity or an investor whether based in Lagos, London, or Hamburg trust an audit or tax assessment issued by an agency whose chief executive is simultaneously passing the collection plate for the incumbent’s campaign funds? The dual mandate transforms statutory tax authority into coercive financial leverage. It sends a chilling message to corporate donors: contribute to the reelection machinery, or risk hostile tax scrutiny. Conversely, it offers a implicit protective shield to those who generously fund the campaign.
This blurring of the line between state institutions and party political finance is the textbook definition of state capture. At a time when Nigeria desperately needs foreign direct investment, institutional predictability, and a broadened tax base, such a blatant politicisation of the revenue service signals to international investors that institutional checks and balances remain secondary to political survival.
For the millions of Nigerians in the diaspora who remit billions annually to sustain the national economy and who continue to fight for an organized political voice in our nation’s future this appointment is a demoralising step backward. We cannot champion democratic consolidation at home while looking the other way as key state organs are repurposed into partisan finance bureaus.
If the administration wishes to project an image of reform, credibility, and respect for the rule of law, Dr. Adedeji must choose. He can serve the Nigerian state as its chief tax officer, or he can serve a political party as its chief fundraiser. He cannot legally, ethically, or constitutionally do both.
Hon Kenneth Gbandi is the former Continental Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE), former National Deputy Chairman (Diaspora Engagement), and currently the Global Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Diaspora Network
