The Ondo State Internal Revenue Service (ODIRS), in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE), has commenced efforts to strengthen the mechanism for addressing taxpayers’ complaints and grievances in the state.
The initiative, tagged “Piloting Taxpayer Grievance Redress Mechanisms in Ondo State,” was unveiled during a two-day ODIRS Taxpayer Grievance Redress Mechanism (TGRM) Operationalisation Workshop held in Akure.
The workshop brought together officials of ODIRS, civil society organisations, professional bodies, informal sector representatives, media practitioners, academics, community leaders, businesses, women’s groups, persons with disabilities, student groups and other taxpayer representatives.
Speaking at the workshop, the Senior Programme Coordinator, International Budget Partnership (IBP) Nigeria, Chika Okoh, said the initiative was designed to enable taxpayers to better understand and engage with the country’s new tax reform laws.
Okoh explained that the programme followed a baseline assessment conducted across 10 states, with Ondo selected to pilot the initiative before it is extended to other states.
She said the project would support ODIRS, civil society organisations, the media and other stakeholders in identifying, documenting and resolving taxpayers’ grievances.
According to her, effective management of taxpayers’ complaints would help build public confidence in the tax system and encourage voluntary compliance.
“If we handle taxpayers’ grievances well, it builds trust, and when there is trust, taxpayers are happy to pay their taxes. This leads to improved compliance and, in the long run, increased revenue,” she said.
Okoh said the immediate objective was to assist ODIRS in developing clear strategies and operational systems for receiving and resolving taxpayers’ complaints, while the long-term goal was to improve tax compliance through increased trust in the system.
She disclosed that the programme was being implemented by IBP with funding support from FCDO-PACE.
She added that the initiative was expected to improve ODIRS’ capacity to operate a transparent, accessible and accountable grievance redress system in line with the 2025 tax reforms.
Other expected outcomes, she said, included strengthening the capacity to receive, document, assess, resolve, escalate, monitor and report taxpayers’ grievances through agreed procedures and tools.
The programme would also enhance the ability of civil society organisations to support taxpayer education and community feedback, while increasing public awareness of taxpayers’ rights and available complaint mechanisms.
Also speaking, a representative of PACE, Josiah Aramide, said an effective grievance redress mechanism should go beyond resolving complaints to building trust between taxpayers and government institutions.
Aramide said the pilot programme was designed to translate tax policies and legislation into practical systems that would be accessible and responsive to taxpayers.
“An effective grievance redress mechanism is not simply a system for handling complaints. It is a system for building trust,” he said.
He explained that taxpayers would have greater confidence in the tax system when they knew where to channel their complaints and understood how such grievances would be handled.
According to him, the initiative would also help identify institutional and operational challenges, develop practical solutions and strengthen collaboration among government agencies, civil society, businesses, the private sector and taxpayers.
Aramide urged participants to actively contribute to the process, noting that the credibility of tax reforms would ultimately be determined by taxpayers’ experiences with the system.
He added that an effective grievance redress system could improve accountability, encourage voluntary compliance and contribute to stronger domestic revenue mobilisation.
In his remarks, the Chairman of ODIRS, Bayo Rojugbonkan, said the partnership with IBP and PACE was aimed at strengthening the capacity of tax administrators to effectively manage taxpayers’ complaints.
Rojugbonkan said ODIRS already had an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism through which taxpayers could lodge complaints before disputes escalated into litigation.
He clarified that the agency’s participation in the programme was not prompted by any particular unresolved grievance, but was aimed at improving its existing system and ensuring that taxpayers received fair and satisfactory responses to their complaints.
“When a taxpayer raises a complaint, he’s not fighting you. He just wants to be satisfied that what he’s doing is not being short-changed,” he said.
The ODIRS chairman said the initiative would also help tax officials gain a better understanding of the new tax reforms and improve their relationship with taxpayers through respectful and responsive service.
He urged taxpayers with complaints to avoid confrontation and make use of the formal channels available for resolving their grievances.
“Please, if you have any complaints, don’t fight. You don’t need to fight. We are here to just administer,” he said.
Rojugbonkan added that effective management of taxpayers’ grievances was essential to maintaining a peaceful relationship between tax authorities and taxpayers, stressing that improved relations would ultimately contribute to increased revenue generation.
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