The Presidency has rejected allegations that it secretly modified provisions of the newly enacted tax reform laws, insisting that no changes were made outside the recognised legislative process.
The denial comes amid calls by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and several civil society groups for the suspension of the laws’ implementation.
The tax reform measures, which faced strong resistance from some northern lawmakers before being passed, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. President Bola Tinubu recently signed four bills into law, describing them as the most comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system in decades.
The new laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all to be administered under a unified Nigeria Revenue Service. According to the Federal Government, the reforms aim to simplify compliance, widen the tax base, eliminate multiple taxation, and modernise revenue collection across all tiers of government.
Controversy erupted after a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), alleged discrepancies between the versions of the bills passed by the National Assembly and those later gazetted and released to the public. He claimed that some provisions debated and approved by lawmakers were missing, while new clauses not passed by parliament had been inserted.
Dasuki warned that such alleged alterations could expose the laws to legal challenges and urged the House leadership to subject all relevant documents to full legislative scrutiny. In response, the House constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee, chaired by the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, to investigate the claims.
Documents cited by legislative sources suggested that certain oversight and accountability provisions were removed, while new enforcement powers — including arrest authority, garnishee orders without court approval, and compulsory dollar-based calculations — were allegedly introduced.
Reacting, the Presidency dismissed the claims as baseless. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said there was no proof that the laws had been altered and described the criticisms as “opposition noise.”
He stressed that the laws were passed through due process and would take effect as scheduled, noting that implementation preparations had been ongoing for months. Ajayi added that the actions of an opposition lawmaker could not invalidate legislation duly passed and signed into law.
Similarly, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, ruled out suspending implementation, saying the government would await the outcome of the House investigation. He maintained that parts of the law were already being implemented and that full enforcement would begin on January 1.
Meanwhile, Atiku and Obi called for an independent investigation into the alleged alterations, arguing that transparency and accountability were essential to maintaining public confidence in fiscal policy. Atiku urged the government to halt implementation pending a thorough probe, describing the alleged changes as criminal falsification.
Obi warned that the claims represented a dangerous slide from poor governance into abuse of the law, saying the reported alterations threatened constitutional order and further eroded public trust. He criticised the alleged introduction of new coercive enforcement measures that were not approved by lawmakers.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) also condemned the tax laws as “draconian,” calling for their immediate suspension and a public inquiry to determine whether forgery occurred. The party warned that altering legislation after passage pointed to excessive concentration of power.
In addition, the Take-It-Back Movement said it had begun nationwide mobilisation against the reforms, describing them as anti-people. The group argued that the tax laws disproportionately burden ordinary Nigerians, including workers, small business owners, young people and informal sector participants, despite what it called government failure to deliver basic services.
0 Comments