‘Alteration’ Controversy: Suspend New Tax Law Implementation, Reps Minority Group Tells FG

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to halt implementation of the planned tax laws following alleged alteration controversies rocking the country.

The call for suspension followed insistence by Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, last week, that the date for the implementation of the Nigerian Tax Act and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act was sacrosanct.

“The plan to commence the new laws on January 1, 2026, will go ahead as planned on schedule because these reforms are designed to provide relief to the Nigerian people,” he said after the meeting, which was attended by the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacchaeus  Adedeji, and the Chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee, Joseph Tegbe.

“Bottom 98 per cent of workers will see either no Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax or lower taxes to be paid, small businesses 97 per cent of them will be exempted from Corporate Income Taxes, Value Added Tax (VAT), and Withholding Tax, and large businesses will see a drop in the taxes that they pay.

“The whole idea is to try and promote economic growth, inclusivity, as well as shared prosperity for our people,” he added.

Oyedele, however, welcomed the position of the National Assembly on the allegations about alteration.

He said the Federal Government was ready to work with the federal lawmakers to address the concerns raised by Nigerians, including opposition figures.

RELATED: Implications Of Not Implementing New Tax Laws By January 1 — Oyedele

In a development, a statement issued and signed by Rep. O.K Chinda, Minority Leader, Rt. Hon. Ali Isa J.C, Minority Whip, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Madaki, Deputy Minority Leader, and Rt. Hon. George Ozodinobi, Deputy Minority Whip, called on FG to suspend tax law implementation until investigations are concluded.

“…we call on the government to suspend the implementation  of the tax laws until investigations are concluded and there is clarity and certainty of the law to be implemented.

Moreover, it said Nigerians and the business community are entitled to copies     of the laws that “they are expected to obey.”

The Rep members assured that they will ensure that the alleged illegalities in the gazetted tax laws are addressed in the interest of Nigerians.

“We have noted with great consternation and an overwhelming sense of disappointment the current storm brewing over the Tax Reform laws that were duly passed by the National Assembly and properly signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

“Ordinarily, the controversy will have been dismissed as needless, but 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.

“We are also aware that this issue has been raised by a member of the House of Representatives during one of our recent plenaries, following which the House innugurated 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 is 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.”

It called on Nigerians to disregard any purported tax laws being circulated without the signature of the CNA and the President and Commander in Chief, saying “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.”

RELATED: January 1 Implementation Date For Tax Laws Is Sacrosanct, Oyedele Insists

Controversies have continued to trail the implementation of the new tax laws after a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, recently raised concerns about what he described as discrepancies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions subsequently gazetted and made available to the public.

Dasuki argued that his legislative rights had been breached because the content of the gazetted tax laws did not reflect what lawmakers debated and approved on the floor of the House.

“Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we have what has not been gazetted. We don’t have what was passed,” he said.

“The official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the National Assembly sent to the President, we don’t have a copy to compare. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what we sent.

“It should be the House of Representatives or Senate version. It should be the harmonised version certified by the clerk. Even me, I cannot say that I have it. I only have what was presented to Mr President to sign.”

Tinubu signed the four tax reform bills into law, marking what the government has described as the most significant overhaul of the country’s tax system in decades.

The tax reform laws, which faced stiff opposition from federal lawmakers from the northern part of the country before their passage, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

The laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all operating under a single authority, the Nigeria Revenue Service.