Reps Minority Caucus alleges illegal alterations in gazetted tax laws, seeks deeper probe

By Gift Chapi Odekina, Abuja

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has alleged that key provisions of recently enacted tax laws were illegally altered after being passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, warning that the development poses a serious threat to legislative independence and Nigeria’s democracy.

The allegation is contained in an interim report released on January 23, 2026, by the Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, which was set up to investigate discrepancies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and versions subsequently published in the official gazette.

The controversy followed an alarm raised on the floor of the House by Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki over what he described as “the circulation of an authorised version different from the one passed by the National Assembly.” The development sparked public outrage and prompted the Minority Caucus, in a statement issued on December 28, 2025, to vow to “unconditionally protect the independence of the Legislature and our democracy.”

At the time, the caucus warned that “any attempt to foist fake laws on Nigerians is an attack on the independence and constitutional role of the National Assembly in safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy.”

In response, the Minority Caucus, led by Hon. Kingsley Chinda, constituted a seven-member fact-finding committee on January 2, 2026, chaired by Hon. Afam Victor Ogene.

Meanwhile, on January 3, 2026, the House, through its spokesman, Rep. Akintunde Rotimi, announced that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen had ordered the public release of the four tax reform Acts signed into law by the President to allow for verification and public scrutiny.

According to a statement by Ogene, the Speaker directed “the immediate public release of the Certified Acts to eliminate doubts, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislature.” He added that the Clerk to the National Assembly had concluded the process of aligning the Acts duly passed, assented to, and certified with the Federal Government Printing Press to ensure accuracy, conformity, and uniformity.

The Acts involved are the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.

Presenting its interim findings, the committee confirmed that there were alterations as alleged by Hon. Dasuki, particularly in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025. It further revealed that three different versions of the Act were in circulation.

The committee stated that the directive to align the Acts with the Government Printing Press was “a clear indication that there were procedural anomalies in the previously gazetted version that illegally encroached on the core mandate of the National Assembly.”

One major discrepancy identified was in Section 29(1) of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025. According to the report, while the version passed by the National Assembly set reporting thresholds at ₦50 million for individuals and ₦100 million for companies, the gazetted version lowered the threshold to ₦25 million for individuals and altered the company benchmark, thereby expanding the tax net without legislative approval.

“This is a clear case of the Executive undermining legislative powers by illegally altering an already passed law,” the committee stated.

On appeals, the report said the gazetted version introduced new subsections 41(8) and 41(9), mandating a 20 per cent deposit of disputed tax as a condition for appeal—provisions which, it noted, were absent from the version passed by the National Assembly.

The committee also raised concerns over Section 64, alleging that the gazetted law illegally expanded enforcement powers to include arrest and sale of seized assets without a court order.

Other discrepancies cited include the removal of petroleum income tax and VAT from the definition of federal taxes, which the committee described as “an affront to the exclusive powers of the National Assembly,” as well as a provision mandating tax computation for petroleum operations in US dollars rather than “the currency of the transaction as approved by lawmakers.”

In the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, the committee observed that oversight provisions empowering the National Assembly to summon officials and demand reports from the agency were deleted in the gazetted version.

“This was done in total disregard and disrespect of the institution of the National Assembly and the doctrine of checks and balances,” the report said.

Concluding its interim findings, the committee said the anomalies and alleged illegalities observed were sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation, adding that they clearly undermined the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.

It therefore requested an extension of time to conduct a more comprehensive probe “to ensure accountability for this affront against the legislature.”

The post Reps Minority Caucus alleges illegal alterations in gazetted tax laws, seeks deeper probe appeared first on Vanguard News.