Rep Dasuki Raises Concern Over Alleged Alteration of Gazetted Tax Laws

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A member of the House of Representatives, Rep Abdussamad Dasuki (representing Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State) on Wednesday raised serious concerns over alleged discrepancies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and released to the public.

Raising a Point of Privilege under Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules, Rep Dasuki told the House that his legislative privilege had been breached, insisting that the contents of the gazetted tax laws were at variance with what lawmakers debated, voted on and passed during plenary.

The lawmaker said that after the passage of the tax bills, he spent the last three days carefully reviewing the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives and the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers of the National Assembly, only to discover inconsistencies.

“I was here, I gave my vote and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said, adding that copies of the gazetted laws obtained from the Ministry of Information did not reflect what was approved by both the House and the Senate.

He stressed that the issue was not about moving a motion but about drawing the attention of the House to what he described as a serious breach of legislative process and the Constitution.

Rep Dasuki urged the Speaker to ensure that all relevant documents, including the harmonised versions, the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers and the gazetted copies currently in circulation, are brought before the Committee of the Whole for scrutiny by all members.

He warned that allowing laws different from those duly passed by the National Assembly to be presented to Nigerians would undermine the integrity of the legislature and amount to a violation of constitutional provisions.

“This is a breach of the Constitution and our laws, and this should not be taken lightly by this honourable House,” he said.

Responding, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the plenary, said he had taken note of the Point of Privilege raised by Rep Dasuki and assured members that necessary action would be taken on the matter.

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