NLC to IMF, World Bank: Stop Funding Unaccountable Governments

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) to halt loans to governments that lack accountability to their citizens, warning that such financial support deepens governance crises and entrenches poverty.

Speaking at the 2025 high-level global labour meeting at the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C., NLC President Joe Ajaero criticized the lending practices of the Bretton Woods institutions, arguing that their economic prescriptions have exacerbated poverty and undermined Nigeria’s development.

“Lending to governments that do not prioritize the welfare of their people is not development; it is exploitation,” Ajaero stated. He urged the IMF and WB to stop imposing blanket austerity measures and instead support progressive tax policies that shield the poor and vulnerable.

In his presentation titled “Progressive Taxation and Fiscal Consolidation”, Ajaero stressed that taxation is not just an economic issue but a moral imperative. He criticized Nigeria’s proposed tax bills, which aim to tax individuals earning as little as N800,000 ($500) annually, calling it a clear example of regressive taxation.

“The IMF and World Bank must tax wealth, not poverty,” he emphasized, calling for higher levies on luxury goods, capital gains, and the incomes of the ultra-wealthy while safeguarding essential goods and services from excessive taxation.

Ajaero also highlighted the exclusion of workers from Nigeria’s tax reform discussions, warning that non-inclusive policies further marginalize those already burdened by the system.

He urged the IMF and WB to close tax loopholes that allow multinational corporations to evade taxes and to push for global tax reforms, including support for the proposed UN Convention on Tax, which aims to regulate taxation of digital corporations operating across borders.

“The path to sustainable development isn’t through debt traps and regressive tax policies,” Ajaero concluded. “It is through empowering nations to build equitable tax systems that serve the many, not the few. The time for change is now.”