NGScorecard

Comprehensive overhaul of the legal, regulatory, and fiscal framework governing Nigeria's oil and gas sector, first proposed as the Petroleum Industry Bill in 2008 and stalled across three previous administrations. Splits regulatory functions between the NUPRC and NMDPRA, sets new fiscal terms for upstream operations, and mandates host-community development trusts funded by 3% of operating expenditure.

Passed by the National Assembly in July 2021 and signed into law the following month — ending a 13-year legislative logjam. International oil companies criticised some fiscal terms as uncompetitive, and full operationalisation of the host-community trusts and the conversion of NNPC into a commercial entity (NNPC Limited) extended past the end of Buhari's term.

The first of what became an annual companion bill to the federal budget, raising VAT from 5% to 7.5%, exempting small businesses with turnover under ₦25 million from company income tax, and introducing a range of tax administration reforms.

Signed alongside the 2020 budget, the Act took effect from February 2020. VAT revenue rose in subsequent years, though the increase also contributed to inflationary pressure on consumers already facing a weakening naira. It established the precedent of annual Finance Acts accompanying each budget cycle for the remainder of Buhari's term.

Amended tax provisions to fund the government's COVID-19 economic response, including changes to capital gains tax, tax incentives for businesses that donated to pandemic relief, and reforms aimed at widening the tax net for the digital economy.

Signed into law on the last day of 2020 alongside the 2021 budget. The digital economy tax provisions laid groundwork for later efforts to tax non-resident digital service providers, though enforcement capacity at the FIRS remained limited through the rest of the term.

Constitutional amendment reducing the minimum age for elective office: from 40 to 35 for president, from 35 to 30 for governor and Senate, and from 30 to 25 for the House of Representatives and state assemblies, following a multi-year youth-led advocacy campaign.

Signed into law in May 2018 ahead of the 2019 general election. A modest increase in younger candidates contesting state assembly and House of Representatives seats followed in 2019 and 2023, though the presidency and Senate continued to be dominated by older, established politicians.

First comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria's principal corporate law since 1990, introducing single-member/single-shareholder companies, simplified startup registration, electronic filing, and — controversially — new powers for the Corporate Affairs Commission to suspend and replace trustees of registered incorporated trustees, including churches, mosques, and NGOs.

Signed into law in August 2020 and widely credited with easing business registration, particularly for small businesses and startups. The trustee-suspension provisions triggered strong objections from religious and civil society organisations over perceived government overreach, and the CAC subsequently clarified it would apply those powers only in cases of proven mismanagement.

Amended the 1993 Production Sharing Contract Act to update the government's revenue share from deep offshore oil blocks — terms that had not been reviewed in over two decades despite a review clause requiring updates whenever oil prices exceeded $20 per barrel.

Passed and signed within weeks, one of the fastest major bills of the Buhari era. The government projected over $1.5 billion in additional annual revenue from international oil companies operating the affected blocks, though independent verification of actual incremental collections was not published in subsequent years.

Mandated the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and the electronic transmission of polling unit results, among other reforms to reduce manual manipulation of election results. Buhari had declined to sign earlier versions of the bill in 2018 and 2021 over provisions he objected to, including one requiring all parties to hold direct primaries.

Signed roughly a year before the 2023 general election after the direct-primaries provision was revised. Widely regarded as the most significant electoral legal reform in over a decade, though the 2023 election's use of BVAS and the INEC results portal drew criticism over delays and transparency gaps in result transmission on election day itself.

Nigeria's first comprehensive federal disability rights law, prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, and public services, mandating accessible public buildings within a five-year transition period, and establishing a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

Signed after more than a decade of advocacy. The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities was subsequently established, but disability rights groups reported the five-year accessibility transition deadline (expiring January 2024) was missed by the vast majority of public buildings, and the Commission remained significantly under-funded relative to its mandate through the rest of Buhari's term.

Sought to consolidate regulation of surface and groundwater resources under federal authority, including licensing requirements for water use that critics said extended to boreholes and other water access many state and local governments currently regulate.

Southern and Middle Belt lawmakers, traditional rulers, and civil society groups strongly opposed the bill as a federal encroachment on land and water rights, framing it within broader anti-restructuring grievances. Public hearings were suspended amid the backlash, and the bill was never reintroduced for a final vote before the Ninth National Assembly's term ended in 2023.

Proposed criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for spreading 'false statements' online deemed likely to threaten public order, national security, or diplomatic relations, modelled in part on Singapore's anti-fake-news law.

The bill drew immediate, sustained opposition from civil society, journalists, and international press freedom organisations, who warned it would be used to criminalise legitimate criticism of government. Public hearings were held but the Senate never brought the bill to a final floor vote, and it lapsed at the end of the Ninth Assembly's term in 2023.