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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives minority caucus has confirmed that the tax reform acts passed by the National Assembly, last year, were altered.
The chairman of the minority caucus panel investigating alleged alteration to the tax reform Acts, Afam Ogene, in an interim report made available to journalists, on Friday, said it has established alterations in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act and the Nigeria Revenue Service Act.
A member of the House, Abdulsamad Dasuki had raised the alarm on the floor of the House, alleging that gazetted copies of the bill in circulation were different from the version passed by the National Assembly.
The House, in its response, set up a seven-man panel, chaired by the chairman House Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muktar Betara, to investigate the allegations and report back to it for further legislative actions.
While the panel is yet to submit its report, the House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, said the leadership has directed the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA) to release the gazetted copies of the acts.
On its part, the minority caucus, also set up a 7 – man panel to conduct a separate inquiry into the alleged alterations of the tax acts.
Ogene, in the panel interim report, stated that a comparison of the version of the acts passed by the parliament and the gazetted copies indicate that some sections of The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, as well as Nigerian Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, were altered.
The report read: “By comparing the Certified True Copies of the Acts released officially by the House of Representatives as directed by the Speaker, with the already gazetted version already in circulation before the alarm was raised by the House, the Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee can confirm thus:
“That there were some alterations as alleged by Hon. Dasuki on the floor of the House of Representatives, especially in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025;
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“There were three different versions of the documents in circulation, particularly the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025.” It further stated “The Contentious Portions, especially in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, have a number of discrepancies from the version passed by the National Assembly and the version earlier published in the official gazette. These discrepancies are obvious, going by the released Certified True Copies (CTCs) by the House referenced earlier.
“Sections 29(1), 41(8)(9), 64, 3(1)(b), 39(3) of the The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, as well as Nigerian Revenue Service (Establishment) Act Section 30(1) (d), & 30(3): Section 29(1):
On Reporting Thresholds: While the NASS Certified version provided for a tax compliance reporting threshold of N50 million for individuals and N100 million for companies, the gazetted version lowered the reporting thresholds for individuals to (N25 million from N50 million) and (N100 million from N250 million) for companies.
“This is a clear case of the Executive undermining legislative powers by illegally altering an already passed law to drag more taxpayers into the net.
“Section 41: Introducing new subsections (8) and (9) prescribing a mandatory 20% Deposit for Appeals: The gazetted version introduced new subsections 41(8) and 41(9), which required taxpayers to deposit 20 per cent of the disputed tax amount as a condition for appealing Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT) decisions to the High Court. These sections were not in the authentic version passed by NASS.
“Section 64: Enforcement and Power of Arrest. The gazetted law illegally increased the powers of the tax authority to include the power to arrest individuals suspected of tax violations through law enforcement agencies, and allowed for the sale of seized assets without a court order.
“ Section 3(1) (b): Definition of Federal Taxes. While the NASS Certified version defines Federal taxes to include Income Tax, Petroleum income tax, Stamp duties, and VAT, the gazetted version removed petroleum income tax and VAT from the definition of taxes under the federal government’s administration. We consider this an affront to the exclusive powers of the National Assembly to make laws.
“Section 39(3): Currency of Tax Computation: The illegally altered gazetted Act mandated that tax computations for petroleum operations be made in US Dollars. But in the actual version passed by the National Assembly, it prescribed tax calculations in the currency of the transaction.
“Nigerian Revenue Service (Establishment) Act: Section 30(1) (d), & 30(3): National Assembly Oversight Provisions. It is observed, with grave concern, that while the authentic version passed by NASS provided that NASS can summon, demand reports or enforce accountability in line with its constitutional role of oversight, the altered gazetted version curiously deleted this provision requiring quarterly and annual reporting to parliament regarding the Nigeria Revenue Services, in total disregard and disrespect of the institution of the National Assembly and the doctrine of checks and balances, an important bedrock of democracy. “Given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the Committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation.
“This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature. To achieve this, the Committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter.”
