The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stop lending money to governments that are not accountable to their citizens.
NLC President Joe Ajaero made the plea at the 2025 high-level meeting of the global labour movement, IMF, and World Bank at the World Bank office in Washington D.C.
Ajaero criticized the IMF and World Bank’s economic prescriptions, which he said have worsened poverty and undermined Nigeria’s development.
He also expressed concerns about the institutions’ influence on Nigeria’s economic policies, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies.
Ajaero, who spoke at the 2025 high-level meeting of the global labour movement, the IMF and WB at the World Bank office in Washington, pleaded with the Brettonwoods institutions to stop imposing blanket austerity measures, but support developing nations in crafting progressive tax policies that protect the poor and vulnerable.
In a presentation, titled “Progressive Taxation and Fiscal Consolidation,” Ajaero said: “We represent the voice of those who are marginalized and those who are supposed to benefit from taxation but who have unfortunately in many countries begun to suffer adversely from taxation.
‘’Progressive taxation and fiscal consolidation are not merely an economic issue, it is a moral imperative and a key question of social justice.
“The current global economic order, influenced heavily by institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, often perpetuates inequality rather than addressing it. In many developing nations, including Nigeria, tax policies are regressive, placing a disproportionate burden on the poor, while allowing the wealthy and multinational corporations to evade their fair share. ‘’This is not an accident, it is a systemic failure that demands urgent correction. The IMF and World Bank have, for decades, prescribed austerity measures and structural adjustment programs that prioritize debt servicing over human development.
‘’These policies have eroded public services, weakened labour rights, and deepened poverty. Yet, the question we must ask is: Why do these institutions continue to lend to profligate and dictatorial governments that are unaccountable to their citizens? Is it a deliberate strategy to push nations like Nigeria further into a cycle of debt and underdevelopment?
“The fiscal challenges on developing nations as a result of debt pressures and IMF and WB prescriptions have compelled them to seek avenues to remain fiscally solvent. Thus, all manner of taxes are placed on workers and the poor who do not have means of evading such taxes.
‘’Nigeria in its proposed tax bills, plans to impose taxes on people who earn just N800,000 per annum or U$500 (five hundred US Dollars per annum). If that is not a regressive tax proposal, nothing else will.
“Lending to governments that do not prioritise the welfare of their people is not development; it is exploitation. It entrenches corruption, fuels inequality, and undermines democracy. The workers and citizens of these nations are left to bear the brunt of these policies, while the elite and their foreign enablers profit.
‘’IMF and WB must fashion a way to stop mortgaging the future of these nations by its continued lending to such regimes.
“We call on the IMF and World Bank to rethink their approach. Instead of imposing blanket austerity measures, IMF and WB must support developing nations in crafting progressive tax policies that protect the poor and vulnerable.
‘’Thus IMF and WB should support inclusive tax systems. In other words, the conceptualisation and implementation of tax systems must allow the participation of key national stakeholders, especially workers who constitute the bulk of tax payers in developing economies.
“Whether a tax is regressive or progressive begins at the table where it was conceived. Any group that is not at the table is on the menu. The new proposed tax bills in Nigeria is not inclusive, despite our loud cries at the formation of the tax committee, the government denied workers’ representation thus, its passage into law has become stymied.
‘’IMF and WB must, therefore, encourage nations to allow for the participation of all critical stakeholders in all the processes from conceptualisation to the operationalisation of their tax systems. The use of social dialogue must, therefore, be prioritised.
“IMF and WB must tax wealth and not poverty. They should Implement higher taxes on luxury goods, capital gains, and the incomes of the ultra-wealthy. Tax justice is at the heart of social justice and global sustainability.
‘’So, IMF and WB should be at the forefront of co-creating a just and equitable world.”
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