The President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Mr Samuel Agbeluyi, has charged incoming tax professionals to see their roles as critical to shaping Nigeria’s fiscal policies and building a more efficient tax system.

Agbeluyi gave the charge on Tuesday at the opening of the April 2025 Pre-Induction Orientation Programme held in Abuja.

While addressing participants, the CITN President said the orientation marked not just a personal achievement for inductees but the beginning of a greater national responsibility.

According to him, “Ultimately, it is expected that at the end of this programme and the induction thereafter, the number of tax professionals in the roll call of the CITN and indeed Nigeria would grow.

“Most importantly, more professionals would be added to the struggle of building an efficient and effective tax system in Nigeria, whilst influencing government fiscal policies and adding immense value to various stakeholders.”

Agbeluyi stated that the institute’s charter empowers it to determine the standard of knowledge and skills required to become a professional in the field, adding that the training was a deliberate step towards producing competent tax administrators capable of delivering value in the Nigerian economy.

He also noted that facilitators had been carefully selected from among experienced tax professionals and administrators to guide inductees using practical scenarios.

In her remarks, the Deputy Director of the CITN Tax Academy, Mrs Yetunde Suleiman, said the training was designed to expose participants to key developments in national and international tax administration, as well as emerging issues in the digital economy.

She noted that taxation remained central to Nigeria’s economic development and urged the inductees to take their training seriously in light of growing challenges in the country’s tax system, such as evasion, ambiguity of laws and high compliance costs.

Suleiman said, “There is a continuous need to produce, train and unleash qualified tax professionals to tackle these hydra-headed tax challenges.”

She urged participants to approach the sessions with enthusiasm, noting that the knowledge acquired would prepare them to become ambassadors of the institute and sound professionals equipped to drive reform in the tax space.

The orientation programme forms part of the statutory requirements for membership of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.