In a startling clarification, Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has revealed that income earned by commercial sex workers will be taxed under Nigeria’s new fiscal laws.
Speaking in a video posted on X on Monday, Oyedele said the government is not interested in whether a source of income is “legitimate or illegitimate,” but only in whether money was made from rendering goods or services.
“There is this extreme example… if somebody is doing runs, they go and look for men to sleep with. You know that is a service, they will pay tax on it,” he declared.
Oyedele’s comments have ignited debate, with many questioning whether the government is effectively legitimising prostitution by seeking to tax it.
He, however, clarified that gifts — such as upkeep money sent to relatives, friends, or strangers — remain exempt from tax, since they are “non-exchange transactions.”
President Bola Tinubu signed four tax reform bills into law on June 26, which include the Nigeria Tax Act and the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act. The new laws, recently gazetted, will come into force on January 1, 2026.