As the Renewed Hope Ambassadors movement enters its second week of grassroots mobilization, the three-term Senator and Oyo APC leader, Teslim Folarin, has taken a firm stand in defense of President Bola Tinubu’s recent tax reforms. Speaking today during a stakeholder engagement in the Atisbo/Saki West Federal Constituency, Folarin addressed the widespread anxieties following the National Assembly’s recent release of the certified copies of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and the National Revenue Service Act.
Senator Folarin’s rhetoric focused on de-escalating the narrative that the reforms are a “tax on the poor.” Instead, he argued that the new laws are designed to simplify the tax system, move the nation toward a sustainable Tax-to-GDP ratio, and eliminate the “nuisance taxes” that have historically stifled small businesses in rural Oyo State. He pointed out that by consolidating revenue collection through a modernized National Revenue Service, the federal government is actually protecting citizens from the multiple taxation currently enforced by unauthorized local collectors.
This defense is politically significant as it marks the APC’s first major attempt in 2026 to “sell” federal policies directly to the Oke-Ogun electorate. By framing the reforms as a tool for “fiscal discipline” rather than a burden, Folarin is attempting to neutralize the opposition’s primary talking point ahead of the 2027 cycle
