The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the proposed tax laws over alleged controversies surrounding alterations to the legislation.
The demand follows comments last week by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, who insisted that the commencement date for the Nigerian Tax Act and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act remains unchanged.
“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 a meeting 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 stance of the National Assembly on the allegations of alterations, noting that the Federal Government is prepared to engage lawmakers to resolve concerns raised by Nigerians, including opposition figures.
In a statement jointly signed by Minority Leader Rep. O.K. Chinda, Minority Whip Rt. Hon. Ali Isa J.C., Deputy Minority Leader Rt. Hon. Aliyu Madaki, and Deputy Minority Whip Rt. Hon. George Ozodinobi, the caucus urged the government to halt implementation of the tax laws pending the conclusion of investigations.
“…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.
The lawmakers further stated that Nigerians and the business community are entitled to copies of the laws “they are expected to obey.”
They assured the public that the Minority Caucus would ensure all alleged irregularities 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.”
The caucus also urged Nigerians to disregard any tax laws in circulation that do not bear the signatures of the Clerk to the National Assembly and the President, stating that “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.”
The controversy intensified after Abdussamad Dasuki, a member of the House of Representatives, raised concerns over what he described as discrepancies between the tax laws passed by lawmakers and the versions later gazetted and released to the public.
Dasuki argued that his legislative rights were violated, insisting that the gazetted laws did not reflect what was debated and approved by 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.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently signed four tax reform bills into law, a move the Federal Government described as the most sweeping reform of Nigeria’s tax system in decades.
The laws, which are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026, include the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all to operate under the Nigeria Revenue Service.