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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The minority caucus of the House of Representatives has called for the suspension of the implementation of the new tax laws, pending the conclusion of investigations into alleged alterations of the laws.
The caucus, in a statement jointly signed by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda; Minority Whip, Ali Isa; Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki; and Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, said this is necessary to ensure clarity on the laws before implementation.
Recall that a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, recently alleged that the gazetted copy of the tax reform laws, passed earlier in the year, is different from the copy passed by the National Assembly.
Consequently, the House set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the allegations and report back to it. However, last week, the spokesman, Akin Rotimi, in a statement, said the National Assembly leadership has directed the Clerk to re-gazette the laws.
While controversy has continued to trail the tax laws, the Federal Government has said it is going ahead with the commencement of the laws on 1 January 2026.
The minority caucus noted that “the gravity of the cause of the controversy is an issue of great concern to all Nigerians, especially since it borders on the accusations of unlawful alterations to the laws as passed by both Chambers of the National Assembly and subsequently signed by the President.”
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The opposition lawmakers added that “we are also aware that this issue has been raised by a member of the House of Representatives during one of our recent plenary, following which the House inaugurated a high-powered committee to investigate the allegations made by the member that the tax laws have been fraudulently altered, gazetted and the altered copy circulated to the public.
“As such, we want to assure Nigerians that the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives will stand with the entire House to see that the circumstances surrounding this illegality are exposed and the culprits brought to book in the interest of justice for all Nigerians.
“We are aware of the legitimate procedures towards the gazetting of laws, and it starts with the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) transmitting the actual copies of the laws to the relevant federal agency that gazettes all government documents, which means the National Assembly is always the custodian of the genuine documents of the laws of the federation that have been passed, and therefore we will always make sure that it is the truth that prevails in moments of controversy such as this.
“We therefore call on Nigerians to disregard any purported tax laws being circulated without the signature of the CNA and the President and Commander-in-Chief; such did not originate from the National Assembly, and neither do they reflect the true character of what were actually passed by the Legislature and signed by the President.
“Any attempt to foist fake laws on Nigerians is an attack on the independence and constitutional role of the National Assembly in safeguarding our democracy, and the Caucus will unconditionally protect the independence of the Legislature and our democracy.”
