Financial experts in Nigeria have hailed the appointment of an American-based Nigerian financial consultant, Dr. John Nwabueze, as the pioneer Tax Ombudsman following the establishment of the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act of 2025 which supports the ongoing ambitious tax and revenue reforms in the nation.
President of the Association of Management and Social Sciences Researchers of Nigeria, Prof. Lucy Uche Onyekwelu said to the media on Friday: ‘Dr. Nwabueze is a square peg is a square hole’.
Onyekwelu, who is of the Department of Accountancy at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and the pioneering chairman of the Agbani Society and District of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), continued: ‘Dr. Nwabueze does not just have the knowledge of an international industry practitioner in the United States but has also been deeply involved in the management of Nigeria’s financial and economic matters in both the executive and legislative branches over the years’.
An economist and former banker. Chief Mike Ejezie noted that, since the role of the Tax Ombudsman is new in Nigeria, ‘it is critical that the person chosen to lay the foundation is one who can immediately command the respect of both experts and lay persons’.
A fellow of both ICAN and the Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Ejezie said that a tax ombudsman is the soul of the country’s revenue and tax system.
‘He protects the interests of tax payers as well as public interests, and ensures inclusion and fairness’, he explained.
Ejezie expressed satisfaction that Nwabueze, who is from Asaba in Delta State, has been a tax practitioner in the United States since the early 1990s, and earned postgraduate degrees in accounting and finance, rising to become the managing partner of a tax firm in America.
In a statement in Lagos on Friday, an international entrepreneur with business interests in Nigeria and the United States, Mr. Tunde MacAlabi lauded President Bola Tinubu for selecting ‘a competent financial expert to lead this important organization to promote transparency in the nation’s tax system and make it very competitive.
‘President Tinubu made the choice based on the character, competence, and qualifications of the new tax ombudsman.
‘The President is not interested in Dr. Nwabueze’s faith, ethnicity or any of the primordial factors that make Nigeria underperform’.
An economist and retired investment banker, Willie Nwokoye described Nwabueze’s appointment as ‘strategic’.
Nwokoye and Nwabueze have been friends since their time at the University of Jos where the former read Economics and the latter Mathematics.
Nwokoye stated that President Tinubu did not care whether Nwabueze ‘is a card-carrying member of any party before head-hunting him to lead the new effort to renew trust in the nation’s tax system through transparency and probity.
‘The success of the ongoing tax and revenue reforms hinges on how much faith the Nigerian people have in the new system, making Nwabueze’s job extremely important.
‘I have known Dr. Nwabueze for several decades, and I can testify to his acute-mindedness and vision’.
