Tax Laws Dispute: Ndume Slams Reps Deputy Spokesman, Insists Act was Falsified 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Senator Ali Ndume on Sunday asked the leadership of the House of Representatives to rein in its Deputy Spokesman, Philip Agbese, over what he described as an ill-considered attack on his position regarding the alleged falsification of Nigeria’s tax laws.

Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, spoke in Abuja while reacting to comments credited to Agbese, in which the lawmaker dismissed as “mischievous” Ndume’s claim that discrepancies exist between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the version later gazetted and circulated to the public.

The Senator faulted Agbese for wading into a matter he said remains under investigation by a committee set up by the House leadership, insisting that only the panel has the authority to pronounce on the controversy.

“I call on the leadership of the House to call this maga dog to order. The man who claims to speak for the House should not be a maga dog,” Ndume said.

According to him, Agbese acted out of turn by declaring that there was no falsification when the Muktar Betara-led committee constituted to examine the matter had yet to submit its report.

He said, “The tax laws alteration controversy is still pending before a committee constituted by the leadership of the House.

“The Betara-led committee has not submitted its report. Only that committee has the locus standi to declare, after investigation, that there is no difference between what parliament passed and what was gazetted,” Ndume stated.

Agbese had earlier reacted to Ndume’s television interview last week, where the Senator raised concerns about alleged distortions between the harmonised version of the tax bills approved by lawmakers and the final gazetted copies.

The Deputy House Spokesman dismissed the claim, saying, “It is sheer mischief to suggest that the tax laws were falsified.”

Ndume said the comment was unfortunate and accused Agbese of playing to the gallery in a bid to curry favour with the House leadership.

“Agbese is too junior to join issues with me on a matter that does not affect him directly.

“He is the deputy spokesman of the House, not the spokesman,” he said.

The former Senate Leader argued that Agbese lacked the legislative experience to properly understand the gravity of the issue and the procedure for resolving sensitive parliamentary disputes.

“Agbese is forgiven on the ground of inexperience. He is a first-timer. I was in the House in 2003 when he was probably in secondary school.

“For him to come out and say that my statement is mischievous is very unfortunate,” Ndume added.

Describing the remarks as disrespectful, the Senator said the language used against him was unbecoming of a lawmaker speaking on behalf of the parliament.

“If he has the guts to say that I am mischievous, it means he can tell his father the same thing. At 66, if I’m not old enough to be his father, I am close to that. My first daughter is 40 years old,” he said.

Ndume stressed that his intervention on the tax laws controversy was not targeted at any individual or institution but driven by the need to protect the integrity of the legislative process.

“My position was simply that things should be done the right way. I did not insult anybody. I cross-checked the votes and proceedings, clause by clause, before I said there were some flaws,” he explained.

He argued that even minor differences in wording between the harmonised version passed by the National Assembly and the gazetted copy could have serious legal implications.

“If the harmonised version says, ‘this shall be,’ and the gazetted copy says, ‘this will be,’ these are two different things, subject to interpretation,” he said.

Ndume accused Agbese of acting out of personal ambition rather than principle, insisting that the House had yet to take an official position on the matter.

“He is hoping to find himself in the good books of the leadership of the House, but he has only succeeded in embarrassing himself and the House of Representatives. He is not speaking for the House because the House is yet to take a position on this issue,” Ndume said.

He concluded by urging the National Assembly to resolve the controversy transparently by conducting a side-by-side comparison of the two versions of the Tax Acts.

“The parliament should compare and examine the sections of both versions and simply say, ‘this is what we passed and signed,’ section by section. That is the only way Nigerians will be comfortable,” he stressed.