FG Makes U-turn Over Tax Laws
The Federal Government has insisted that there is only one authentic version of the newly enacted tax reform laws.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Monday in Abuja at the end-of-year news conference.
Idris dismissed claims that the tax laws had been altered after being passed by the National Assembly, stressing that the version assented to by President Bola Tinubu remains intact.
He said the laws followed due legislative process, including consultations and debates at the National Assembly, before receiving presidential assent.
“The Federal Government is going ahead with the commencement of implementation, noting as changed,” Idris said.
The minister explained that concerns over alleged discrepancies between the version passed by lawmakers and the one gazetted had been raised at the National Assembly, adding that the executive would rely on the outcome of the legislature’s review.
“I think it is important for us to wait for the National Assembly to look at this again to tell us whether there were discrepancies or not,” he said.
“This is, at this point, an affair of the National Assembly to which I have no jurisdiction, and I have no authority to speak about. As far as the government of Nigeria is concerned, there’s only one version of that tax document.”
The controversy followed claims by a lawmaker representing Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in Sokoto State, Abdussamad Dasuki, who raised the alarm in the House of Representatives over alleged alterations to the tax reform laws.
Dasuki alleged that the version of the laws passed by the National Assembly differed from the one later gazetted and circulated by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Information.
It was reports that the tax reform laws, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026, were recently signed into law by President Tinubu.
The bills, however, faced stiff opposition during legislative consideration, particularly from some northern lawmakers, amid concerns over their economic and regional implications.
The controversy deepened after Dasuki claimed that some provisions contained in the gazetted laws were neither debated nor approved by lawmakers.
The tax laws have also attracted criticism from prominent political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, both of whom have called for the suspension of their implementation pending clarification of the disputed provisions.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has also dismissed claims of secret alterations, warning of the consequences Nigerians could face if the new tax laws are not implemented from January 1.
