Nigeria, Dec. 30 -- The Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee has pushed back against claims that Nigeria's new tax laws will drive up airfares, insisting the reforms are structured to lower operating costs for airlines from 2026.

The clarification follows concerns raised by Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema, who warned that the Nigeria Tax Act could trigger sharp fare increases. However, committee chairman Taiwo Oyedele said the reforms address long standing cost pressures in the aviation sector rather than create new ones.

He explained that the most significant relief is the removal of the 10 percent withholding tax on aircraft leases, which previously added millions of dollars in unrecoverable costs to airline balance she...