•Flags fake documents in circulation

By Chinelo Obogo

Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has reacted to the allegations made by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsammad Dasuki, who claimed that the gazetted version of the tax law differs from what was approved by the National Assembly.

Dasuki who spoke on the floor of the House said he took his time to compare the harmonised bill passed by both legislatures with the official gazette and that he noticed notable discrepancies which showed that what was gazetted is different from what was passed by the National Assembly.

The revelation about the discrepancies in the tax law which is set to go into effect in less than two weeks generated widespread controversy and condemnation. 

However, Oyedele, who was on Channels TV on Monday, sought to clarify the issue, saying that his committee has a Tax Act that was gazetted and not the official harmonised bill certified by the Clerk of the National Assembly. He said he does not have the copy from the National Assembly to compare with what was gazetted, insisting that only the lawmakers can authoritatively say ‘this is what we sent’.

He added that what is currently circulating in the media is fake, saying that for instance, the 20% deposit being bandied was not in the final gazette, but in the draft Gazette.

“We’ll make some very important clarifications.

Generally, before you can say that there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we have what is gazetted, we don’t have what was passed.

So the official harmonised bill certified by the Clerk which the National Assembly sent to the president, we don’t have the copy to compare, right? That’s a fundamental issue that people need to be aware of. So, only the lawmakers can say authoritatively this is what we sent, and that’s what we sent. It shouldn’t be the House of Reps version, it shouldn’t be the Senate version, it should be the harmonized version certified by the Clerk.

“So, even me, I can’t say that I have it because I don’t. I only have what was presented to Mr. President to sign.

The second important point which will help our audience is that what has been circulating and also widely reported by a lot of media organisations is actually fake, you know? So when I saw those things, you would imagine someone like me would take a very keen interest, you know, in something like that.